Here is a critical look at some of the events that helped shape life in the Mid-Mon Valley area during the past week: Cheers: To all the area high school graduates who are receiving their diplomas this month. Graduations are about beginnings and endings. And though you may be closing one chapter in your life as you leave high school for the final time, another exciting portion is lying just ahead. This is one time in your life when your future is truly in your hands. We encourage you all to make the most of whatever opportunities you encounter. Cheers: To the veterans of D-Day who The Valley Independent has been honoring in a series of stories this week. Your fellow citizens can never thank you enough for you courage. We hope the 60th anniversary of that Normandy invasion will remind the nation of the incredible debt we owe you. Jeers: For those western Pennsylvania drivers evading tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and costing the state’s Turnpike Commission an estimated $700,000 per year. Tolls may be an inconvenience, but they are also the law, and if you’re using the roads, you are expected to pay. Cheers: For the “Fleatique on the Mon” that will take place today in Monongahela and New Eagle. Anyone who enjoys antiques should have a great time.

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