Laurels to the possible expansion of local industry being talked about now in Salisbury and Rowan. Three economic development projects are in play that could bring a total of 736 jobs to the area. Two of them, Project Arizona and Project Care, already have a local presence, and Rowan is competing with other locations for the companies’ expansion or restructuring. County commissioners and City Council are presenting a unified, welcoming front, with both boards supporting financial incentives. Landing new industry is nearly every community’s dream, but seeing existing businesses grow would be a healthy sign that Rowan is a good place to do business. Then there’s Project Kodiak, the unnamed e-commerce company that NorthPoint Development hopes to lure to a site off Long Ferry Road near I-85. That’s the big fish, with a potential for 600 new jobs in four years. It’s encouraging to have Rowan in the running for all these developments.

Dart to the lingering mystery around the massacre of 58 concert-goers in Las Vegas a year ago. Criminal psychologists, threat-assessment experts, family and acquaintances cannot figure out why a 64-year-old gambler carefully set up an arsenal in a hotel and fired on the crowd below. He left no manifesto or suicide note, no history of erratic behavior or penchant for terrorist groups. Usually mass shooters are younger men with grievances that they have harbored for a long time. The worst possibility, perhaps, is that he simply wanted the notoriety that would go along with becoming a mass shooter. If so, he was a man without a soul. He should go without a name, too, and be denied the infamy he so foolishly sought.

Laurels to another sign of progress, breaking ground for an additional fire station in Salisbury. Station No. 6 on Cedar Springs Road should improve response times to incorporated areas south of the county’s Mid-Carolina Regional Airport, which was de-annexed a few years ago. The new station will also stand as a tribute to two city firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty 10 years ago, Justin Monroe and Vic Isler. As Chief Bob Parnell, it was a day for making history and making memories.