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Thumbs up for the fair. It’s been another banner year for the Mower County Fair and if you haven’t gone yet, we strongly suggest you take some time either today or Sunday to visit. The board and staff behind the fair go through extraordinary lengths to ensure people have an enjoyable fair experience and this year has been no different.

Thumbs up for National Night Out. Happening every year, National Night Out is a night for some fun as well providing an opportunity for the public and those in the emergency response field to come together in an informal setting. It’s important for people to meet those people that respond to our darkest times outside of those situations. It’s also a chance to show gratitude for the difficult job each and every one of them do.

Thumbs down for the canceled ordinance. It was the right move for the City Council to affirm the cancellation of an ordinance passed for Metronet to install infrastructure. The relationship since the passing of the ordinance has been turbulent as complaints arose from customers of exposed cable, damage to residences and slow response times to customer complaints and lack of service. While it’s nice to still have Metronet’s broadband promises, it’s unfortunate that a second choice for cable has been lost in such an ugly manner.

Thumbs up for peaceful resolutions. During Monday night’s City Council meeting, Austin Police Officer Daniel Osborne and Pastor Dan Mielke were honored for their above and beyond efforts to bring a standoff to a peaceful end in early July. The work they did exemplifies a caring needed to handle this kind of situation. At the same time, we would be remiss if we didn’t recognize all of those involved for the work they did because they all played a part in finding a safe end to something that could have gotten much worse.