It’s important to make a good impression on business leaders who visit our community to determine if they will make Covington and/or Newton County their businesses’ home.

The same can be said of the many tourists and other visitors who come to Newton County throughout the year.

At times, the I-20 exits leading into the city make it appear that we live in a Third World Country. Trash and weeds are the first things and the last things that visitors see.

Covington’s city council has vowed to make an effort to clean and maintain these I-20 exits.

We applaud and support the council’s initiative. As this effort begins, perhaps it’s time for county officials to step up to the plate and ensure that our county roads are kept clean.

It is a shame that both the city and county have to waste precious tax dollars to ensure that our county isn’t trashed. Anyone who is caught throwing trash from car windows or allowing trash to blow out of pickup trucks should be required to spend hours on the public highways, picking up litter.

If you see someone callously throwing trash, get a license plate number and report it to the police.