Some Butler parents could be planning funerals instead of vacations this summer if they don't emphasize bicycle safety to their children.

Since the onset of warm weather, roadways such as West Jefferson and West Cunningham streets, South Chestnut Street, the Island neighborhood in general and West Penn and West Brady streets have been beset with dangerous riding practices by children old enough to know better.

It has not been uncommon to see children on bikes darting in front of vehicles when a traffic light turns green, defying red lights and speeding across streets when vehicles are nearing an intersection on a green light, and weaving back and forth in front of moving vehicles to inhibit those vehicles from passing them.

More police patrols in the areas in question are needed, especially during the evening hours, since the school year has not ended.

But the police cannot devote their entire work shifts curbing irresponsible bike-riding practices. Parents need to become more involved in ensuring that their children practice responsible riding practices and understand the potential serious consequences that dangerous riding practices pose.

Summertime should be a time of fun, not funerals for the young. It also should not be a time when a safe driver's life is damaged because of a preventable accident that he or she could not avoid.

The time to rectify this problem is immediately.

Vehicle manufacturers should find a way to call more attention to a part of vehicles that is being increasingly ignored. That part is called an ashtray.Judging from the amount of cigarette butts that constantly can be seen on or along roadways and streets, not only in this county but everywhere else, it would seem that manufacturers have eliminated that item from their vehicles.Not so. The cigarette butts littering the roadways simply are a matter of drivers' and passengers' disregard for the environment as well as the appearance of areas through which they travel.That irresponsibility also creates potential danger, as has been the case in Cranberry Township since March.Since then, the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company has been called to planting islands along Route 228 18 times to extinguish smouldering mulch resulting from motorists' discarded cigarettes.In addition to the potential damage those incidents posed, the incidents placed in danger firefighters summoned to douse the mulch, as well as motorists in the path of the responding emergency vehicles.People smoking in vehicles should use their vehicles' ashtrays, not expect others to clean up their litter. Meanwhile, pedestrians who smoke should deposit their cigarette butts in proper containers, not discard them on sidewalks, in business entrances or in other inappropriate places, as is so common in the city of Butler's business district.If a person is old enough to smoke, he or she is old enough to adhere to such a basic responsibility.

The U.S. Postal Service operates a vast delivery system for mail. But on one day a year, the system is designed to work in reverse — as a collection system for nonperishable food.This year's annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive was held recently and local food cupboards will benefit from the efforts of postal workers and the generosity of residents.An estimated 12,000 pounds of products, mostly canned foods, juice, pasta, cereal and rice, were collected through the Butler post office.In Zelienople, carriers on their routes brought in enough donated food to fill a U-Haul box truck.Despite beautiful spring weather for this year's Saturday collection, the food drive totals in Butler County failed to surpass the previous year's totals.Getting the word out on the food drive is primarily done through a postal service mailing. But with so much junk mail in the average person's mailbox, the notice might have been missed by many residents.Most people can easily afford — and are more than willing — to donate some non-perishable foods to local food cupboards to help those in need. The postal service collection program makes donating food nearly effortless — just place a bag or box of items next to the mailbox on the designated Saturday in May.More publicity should help improve collection results.In Mars, few collections were received because the program was not oganized in what is considered a rural route by the postal service. Cranberry, too, is considered a rural route, and thus no Stamp Out Hunter collection program was organized.Next year, that should change. Surely, the people living in Mars and Cranberry can make a significant contribution to the shelves of Butler County's food cupboards.The U.S. Postal Service and its employees deserve praise and support for the Stamp Out Hunger campaign.