COLUMBIANA CORNER Official's son serves in Baghdad

Columbiana County Commissioner Gary Williams is taking a personal interest in the war in Iraq.
Williams' son Seth, 24, is serving in Baghdad with the 135th Military Police Co., an Ohio National Guard unit based in Austintown.
Seth has been in Baghdad since June 1; before that he was in Kuwait.
Being in Baghdad, with it's almost daily unrest and violence, puts his son "in the heat of the action," Williams said.
"Every time you hear of someone getting killed over there, you cringe," he added. "We're hoping and praying."
The commissioner is no stranger to military duty.
Williams had a long career in uniform and retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve.
Gutter ball
With Salem's annual cleanup day scheduled last week, residents began taking unwanted furniture, lawn mowers and other items to the curb several days in advance of the event.
Late one night, motorists on East State Street did a double take as a bowling ball rolled down a driveway and into the street. East State is on a slight grade, so the ball rolled for several minutes crossing back and forth across the street in front of cars.
Each time the ball struck a curb it would change direction and roll back across the street. At one point, it struck the wheel of a passing Salem police car. The patrolman turned the car around as the bowling ball continued to roll, seemingly with a mind of its own.
It jumped the curb and landed in the curb lawn. There was still enough momentum and enough grade, however, that the ball did a backspin and crossed the street again, destined for a head-on collision with a compact car. The motorist stopped, and the ball rolled to a stop in front of the car, where the patrolman, by then in a foot pursuit, retrieved the errant orb. It was a gutter ball, for sure.
XCONTRIBUTORS: Norman Leigh and Nancy Tullis, Vindicator Salem Bureau.