Darts and laurels — they’re out for blood

Dart to the mosquito infestations that have driven Rowan residents positively buggy over the past few weeks.

County officials may be correct that the problem isn’t that much worse than in previous years, but some residents sound like they’re ready for emergency transfusions. Maybe this is the price we must pay for those nice April (and March and May) showers that greened things up.

In the interest of fairness, we’d like to point out that all mosquitoes are not to blame for this misery. It’s only the females who bite, seeking a warm-blooded meal to help develop their eggs. We’re not sure what the male mosquitoes do to amuse themselves while the women folk tend to these domestic blood-sucking duties, but it probably involves a remote control and beer.

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Laurels to Rowan County commissioners for protecting private property rights — and eardrums — by adopting new noise regulations governing manufacturing and mining operations. The restrictions, stronger than those recommended by the Planning Department, follow previous adoption of an ordinance governing amplified noise. We hope the commissioners take the same approach in working out the final version of noise regulations governing racetracks. While the county doesn’t want to drive away business, it has to be vigilant in protecting residents from the encroachment of commercial development that can destroy their quality of life.

Dart to the cowardly bigots who attempted to harass and intimidate children in North Carolina’s second annual Holocaust commemoration last month. About 90 students who participated in an art exhibit at the Raleigh event received mailings believed to have been sent by the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi white supremacist group. The mailings contained a flyer condemning February as “Black History Month,” as well as a comic book with information on how to join the alliance.

“The obvious intent of this mailing is to intimidate and probably try to convince participating schools, students and teachers not be involved next year,” said Richard Schwartz, vice chairman of the N.C. Council on the Holocaust. “We would hope that everyone involved would recognize it and stand up against it.” 

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Laurels to all of those who turned out to help Mary Hanford celebrate a century of her remarkable life. It was great having Willard Scott make a guest appearance, of course, but it was the hundreds of other folks who showed up that made the party such a joyous occasion. When daughter Liddy Dole said her mother was “always front and center in my life,” it was a sentiment shared by many others in the audience who have received the benefit of Mary Hanford’s care and counsel.