Dart to the politicization of seemingly everything, which now includes hurricane forecasts, too.

After the consensus forecast for Hurricane Dorian turned up the Atlantic Coast rather than into the Gulf, President Donald Trump tweeted Sept. 1 Alabama was “most likely” to be hit hard by the storm, which had just brought devastation to the Bahamas and threatened multiple U.S. states. Alabama was not one of them at the time of his tweet. And the local office of the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, said as much online in an attempt to prevent panic.

But Trump is not one to back down from a challenge and he continued to insist that the storm would turn toward Alabama even as Dorian was bringing devastation to the North Carolina Outer Banks and while career weather forecasters across the South insisted that Alabama was never in imminent danger.

Whether it’s Trump or not, weather forecasting is best left to professionals, not politicians.

Laurel to more than a decade of history for the Patterson family and their tomato farms.

The Pattersons have been farming for more than 125 years and are still going strong today, making Rowan County one of the top tomato producers in the state.

The farm will celebrate its long history with a reunion on Saturday at the site of the original farm, fittingly on Patterson Road.

With a decreasing share of our country having a tie to farming, whether directly or indirectly, it’s more important than ever to promote and recognize the important job farmers do every day as well as the rich history of the industry in Rowan County.

Laurel to the city of Salisbury’s upcoming work to dredge, drain and improve the look of City Park lake.

The lake looks like a petri dish for growing bacteria rather than a lake you’d find in something named “City Park.” That’s because of an aquatic weed that’s taken over the body of water. Besides draining the water, the city will dredge to remove sediment that’s built up and made the lake more shallow. There is other work planned, too, such as repairing a dam, installing sidewalks, replacing trees and adding grass to help with erosion.

While the park is being worked on, things will be smelly until rain fills the lake, city staff said, but we think the end result will be worth any inconvenience.