Now that the presidential election is over, we should heed the calls for unity from both President-Elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. This is needed not just nationally, but in Madison County as well. No matter how your political tastes run, we all need to work together to overcome the big challenges of the day. And while it’s fine to experience the joy of a new president’s inauguration, you should temper that with the realization that he inherits many weighty problems that will not likely all be solved quickly.

A Madison County man reportedly attacked and seriously injured two Madison County women Sunday, choking and kicking them, throwing them against a wall and beating them with a concrete landscape block, authorities say. The man, David F. Campbell, 45, of Poorhouse Road was arrested and charged with aggravated malicious wounding, simple assault and destruction of property, according to a Madison County Sheriff’s Office news release