Laurel to the news that the city of Salisbury and Rowan County have created a mass alert system called RoCo Alerts.

The system will notify those who sign up of incidents like missing persons, traffic accidents that shut down roads, road closures for maintenance reasons, events and other items.

RoCo Alerts aims to serve Rowan County and everyone who lives in it, including cities and towns. It will combined separate systems that were previously operated by the city of Salisbury and county staff.

And, importantly, it will allow people who are otherwise uninformed about the world around them to receive real-time alerts. Certainly the Salisbury Post, online and in print, is the best news source for what’s happening in the community, but there will be instances where emergencies require live updates for those working or living nearby. Social media only works for those types of alerts if users are following the right accounts.

Those interested in signing up can do so online by visiting rowancountync.gov/rocoalerts or salisburync.gov/rocoalerts.

Dart to the unidentified person who smashed three cars parked downtown and fled on foot Friday afternoon. A second driver who grazed one of the already damaged vehicles deserves a dart, too, for failing to stop.

Among other things, the incident soured a nice afternoon downtown for a mother who said she took off of work to spend time with her daughter. The driver damaged vehicles of folks who were otherwise minding their business and nearly put a car through the front of a downtown storefront.

There are rules for drivers, and one of them involves stopping if you’re involved in a car crash. In fact, North Carolina state law requires it.

Accidents happen, but fleeing the scene of one only worsens charges facing the guilty party.

Laurel to the work of nonprofit ApSeed and its plans for expansion.

The nonprofit, which provides literacy-focused touchpads to young children, has surpassed 6,000 “Seedlings” distributed. And, says founder Greg Alcorn, its devices have led to a 15% improvement in students testing at the kindergarten level as they entered school in Davie County.

Tests are not a perfect arbiter of a child’s potential, but they can be an indicator of improvements. That’s why, with its progress in Davie County, it’s encouraging to see plans for expansion into South Carolina and other counties in North Carolina.

Alcorn’s nonprofit is doing good work, and we’re excited to see what comes next.