UP: To the many programs, such as Shop With a Cop or Backpack Blessings that help ALL Mid-Ohio Valley kids get ready to go back to school. Certainly those organizations who put together such programs do a world of good for students who need a helping hand, but, as Det. Dianna Hively, also the D.A.R.E. officer for the Marietta Police Department, pointed out, “We’re able to do this because of all of the donations that we receive from the community.” Here’s to another positive start to a fantastic school year for all.

DOWN: To New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who last week wasted an opportunity to make a point, and instead rather neatly personified the political-insider elitist attitude that disgusts so many ordinary Americans. In failing to walk back his comment that America “was never that great,” Cuomo doubled down and said — in front of a congregation in Brooklyn — that President Donald Trump “may be a slick salesman who fooled many people in this country, but you didn’t fool me and you didn’t fool New Yorkers.” Rather than take the opportunity to find common ground and speak in a way that might have at least made “many people in this country” stop and think about what he had to say, Cuomo showed it was more important to him to sting the president and sharpen division. It is precisely the kind of look-down-the-nose separation from reality so many Americans were voting against in 2016, yet the lesson has not been learned.

UP: To this weekend’s West Virginia State Honey Festival, at Parkersburg City Park. Not only does the event provide “important education about honey and the honey bee,” it has “great food and entertainment, crafters and vendors offering a little something for everyone.” Make the most of another opportunity to get out and enjoy one of the fantastic local festivals the Mid-Ohio Valley has to offer.