HIT: To Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. The temperatures may feel more like November than May but warmer weather is on the horizon.

Americans will hold cookouts and enjoy other favorite leisure activities, but in a time when this nation is involved in armed conflicts overseas it would be especially appropriate to take some time to remember the meaning behind the holiday.

For generations, Americans have answered the call to duty, and some have made the ultimate sacrifice.

MISS: And on this Memorial Day weekend, Cayuga County citizens are on the verge of seeing $4 a gallon gasoline, a shocking development which one would never have imagined just 10 years ago when gas hovered at the $1 a gallon mark.

High gas prices affect all of us, we may have to skip that trip to visit a relative or make other sacrifices to just be able to drive to work or take the children to school.

From what analysts say, the price is only going to go higher, causing further financial hardships.

HIT: To the message from Holocaust survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan, in a talk at Casey Park Elementary School this week.

World War II ended 63 years ago this month, and the world then learned that approximately 6 million Jews and others had been murdered.

With the number of Holocaust survivors dwindling, it is important for a new generation to hear first-hand of one of humanity's most heinous crimes.

HIT: To the United Ministry of Aurora and its series of programs that deal with environmental concerns, such as a current one that involves Cayuga Lake.

The lake is a valuable resource that must be actively preserved. The church's mission is a noble one, helping protect an important natural resource.