Drive carefully, school is open School's back in session throughout the area after Labor Day. Most schools in the county opened before the three-day holiday. Stevens Point's followed the legislative mandate and will open the day after Labor Day, Tuesday, Sept. 4. The start of the school year is greeted with apprehension by some and eagerness by others. A few others dislike it, although they generally change their minds when they get back together with friends they haven't seen since spring. With students back in school, several aspects of everyday life change again, particularly for drivers. School buses are back on the road, and those flashing lights mean vehicles traveling in both directions are supposed to come to a complete stop. School zones have a 15 mile-per-hour speed zone, especially those on Church Street at Rice Street, Main Street at P.J. Jacobs Junior High School and Water Street at Ben Franklin Junior High School. Drivers will also notice additional traffic when going to work in the morning, or coming home from work in the afternoon. Not all students drive, but schools can generate a lot of traffic as parents, grandparents, neighbors or friends pick up the students to transport them to another destination. So drive carefully. There's a lot of future leaders of the area and America out there. They need your vigilance to attain that status. - Gene Kemmeter