Welcome to my "Marshal's Message" column. Some of you may remember that the previous marshal wrote a similar column from time to time, and I thought it would be a good idea to revive it.

I'd like to thank the folks at The Mancos Times for providing me this avenue to communicate with you. I may not write about the most exciting topics, but they will be relevant to the Town of Mancos.

Nothing could be more relevant than the safety of our kids, and with school starting yesterday; it's time to remind everyone to be watchful for our little ones as they make their way to and from school. If you are a new resident of Mancos, you should know that some of our kids walk, some ride their bikes, many ride the bus, a lot of them utilize the mom/dad method of transport and of course some of the older students drive themselves to our school campus. Our kids use just about every mode of transport there is, and we all need to be aware of this and watchful for them at all times.

The Mancos Marshal's Office will be doing its part to keep our kids safe via increased patrols throughout the town and monitoring of our school zone for speed and other moving violations. We will do this to the best of our ability throughout the school year. In respect to our school zone, it's important that you know we have a zerostolerance for speeding violations when school is in session. Parents, please observe the 20 mph limit. I'd guess that almost half the traffic stops I made last year in our school zone were the result of a parent running late taking their kids to school.

Parents with school-age children should have an age (and mode of travel) appropriate conversation with them about keeping themselves and others safe as they make the trip to and from school. Remind them to cross the street only at crosswalks, ride their bikes safely, obey the traffic laws if driving, and always be watchful for traffic. If a child is old enough to get themselves to school they should be old enough to be mindful of their own safety. A kid darting out in into the street unexpectedly could be disastrous even if drivers are obeying every law on the books.

Thanks for reading and for your help in keeping our kids safe. I'll talk to you again soon.

Marshal John Cox can be reached at jcox@mancoscolorado.com.