Praise to the Marysville City Council for banning fireworks in city parks. Now police should be able to crack down on those shooting illegal fireworks off in neighborhoods.

Praise to Premier golf for turning around Cedarcrest Golf Course so quickly. It is such a nice course, and there is no reason it shouldn’t be popular with golfers of all abilities.

Praise to Marysville for its Transportation Improvement Plan. All the areas we now are frustrated with will no longer be problems if we get the funds to make these changes.

Raze to those who leave dogs in their cars, especially on hot days. Leave them at home. If it’s hot for you, it’s hotter for them in their fur coats.

Raze to those who put others at risk when driving. That doesn’t mean just those driving drunk, drugged or sleepy. It’s anything that distracts you, like texting, talking on the phone, eating, putting on makeup, even changing the music or disciplining kids. Add to that the knuckleheads who drive too fast because they didn’t manage their time correctly or those who follow too closely because they are idiots. The highway is no place for games. Car accidents are still one of our major killers.

Raze to state lawmakers for taking too long to pass a budget. That was the main thing they were supposed to accomplish this year, and they procrastinated so much a shutdown was threatened. If anyone else took that long to do their jobs they would be fired. Remember that come election time.

Praise to the Marysville Getchell engineers who came up with the idea for blackberry bushes as alternative fuel for power. It’s that kind of thinking that gives us hope for the future.

Praise to the Tulalip vocational students who made tiny houses for Seattle homeless. That should become a national movement.

Praise to the bystanders who saved the man’s life who was drowning at Twin Lakes.

Praise to the “Books on the Bus” effort in Arlington. We applaud having kids read rather than play video games all day.

Praise to those who participate in the Relay for Life efforts in Arlington and Marysville. Great advances have been made in the treatment of cancer, and more will be made thanks to fundraisers like those.

Praise to the “Classical Dance” class at Arts and Tech High School. We have never seen kids enjoy class so much.

Praise to Marysville for disciplining jail employees who were complacent. If anyone should take their job seriously, it should be jail employees.

Praise to those who participated in Healthy Communities Challenge Day. Nothing is more important than our health.

Praise to Gov. Jay Inslee for signing the jobs bill for Arlington and Marysville. That should help our communities continue to recover from the recession.

Praise to all of our graduates as they head out into the great-big world. We wish you the best. Make us proud.