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 area school teachers, administrators, board officials and service personnel on all their efforts preparing for another school year. Of course, the start of school has been complicated by the coronavirus pandemic. Remote learning has started in some communities throughout our area, and others will begin on Tuesday, following the Labor Day holiday. It certainly has taken a great deal of work to prepare for remote instruction, and let’s hope everything is able to go off without a hitch. Let’s also hope that remote learning is only temporary, and pupils can return to in-person classes as planned. School certainly is not the same outside the hallowed halls of our most precious institutions.

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THUMBS DOWN – To the Lebanon man who voted under two names in 2016. Vincent Marzello, 65, was arrested Wednesday and charged with wrongful voting. This is why many still are crying voter fraud when it comes to the upcoming general election in November. Let’s hope the punishment is severe.

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THUMBS UP – To the 16-year-old from New Hampshire who successfully swam across the English Channel, completing a 33-mile trek by reaching a sandy beach in France after darkness fell. Vera Rivard, of Springfield, left Dover in the United Kingdom around 9:30 a.m. and arrived on a beach near Calais, France, just before midnight on Tuesday. She crossed “roly-poly” waves in 64 degree water, accompanied by a pilot boat affiliated with the Channel Swimming Association. Her mother and younger sister were aboard as her crew. She completed a long-distance swim around Manhattan island in July and hopes to swim a third major open water course to Santa Catalina Island off California – the third in a “triple crown” of long distance swims – at some point in the future. This just goes to show that if you have the right mindset, you can accomplish anything. Congrats to Rivard on this amazing accomplishment and for making New Hampshire proud.

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