Editor’s note: During the course of a week, issues are covered that might not lend themselves to full editorial comment, but they are worthy of The Sunday Telegraph weighing in – thumbs up, thumbs down or neutral.

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Thumbs Up – To John Dunn, director of operations at Michael Timothy’s Dining Group, who told the governor’s Economic Reopening Task Force that state officials need to do more to explain to the public why masks are required when entering, exiting and moving about restaurants. “All of the enforcement of this is being placed on our hospitality workers. We have some young workers who are coming against some people who are very adamant about not wearing a mask and are abusive to staff,” he said. Dunn also noted that restaurants need to start looking at how hey can improve seating capacity within restaurants. Both points were echoed by Jay Bolduc, managing operator of the T-Bones and Cactus Jack’s restaurants. Both Dunn and Bolduc deserve praise for stepping forward and saying what many in the struggling restaurant business know all too well. Eateries across New Hampshire are feeling the pinch caused by COVID-19, with some teetering on the breaking point. Let’s hope the governor’s task force takes action quickly, otherwise many more beloved eateries will no longer be able to operate.

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THUMBS UP – To the Commission on Law Enforcement, Accountability, Community and Transparency for recommending law enforcement agencies collect more demographic data on arrests and that agencies dedicate an officer to community policing, continue to recruit more officers from minority communities and provide training on pronoun inclusion related to transgender and gender-nonconforming populations. The commission recommended that all officers and recruits get training on implicit bias, deescalation and reporting police misconduct. They also recommended conducting an analysis of police jobs that they said would require major funding in order to assess and adjust the training curriculum for new officers. Let’s hope law enforcement agencies take these recommendations to heart – which we are certain they will.

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