Thumbs up to local graduates.

Northwest College awarded diplomas to 193 grads on Saturday, and this Sunday, Powell High School will convert 90 students into alumni. These are annual rituals, symbols of knowledge gained and lessons learned.

The best advice we have heard for graduation speakers is Be Brief, Be Funny and Be Seated. We will pass that along to those on stage at this weekend’s ceremony, and heed it ourselves.

Good work, graduates. We never doubted you would get here, no matter what everybody else said. Now, enjoy the further lessons you will be taught in life’s many classrooms.

Thumbs up to the people willing to run for public office.

Filing for offices that will be up for grabs in the Aug. 19 primary and Nov. 4 general election opened on May 15. Would-be public servants have until 5 p.m. Friday, May 30, to file.

The American system works best when voters are given choices, and we support all who toss their hats into the ring. If you feel you are qualified, or have something to say, make a bid for office. Win or lose, you’re doing your duty.

Thumbs down to reckless, all-too-often deadly driving on our state’s roads and highways.

Three people died and several others were injured when a bus used to transport employees to and from a coal mine near Gillette slammed into a line of vehicles parked by a construction zone last week. The bus was traveling far too fast, and people died because of that.

Maj. Perry Jones of the Wyoming Highway Patrol said the sad thing is, it is far too common for inattentive drivers to collide with other vehicles waiting in construction zones on Wyoming highways.

“While it is difficult for most to fathom, this kind of crash, where a driver collides with stopped vehicles on an open roadway with no foul weather and clear visibility, occurs all too frequently,” Jones said. “As we enter into the road construction season, all drivers are encouraged to pay attention to work zone signs and signals and to slow down, stay off the phone, and buckle up.”

That’s excellent advice. Take it to heart.

Thumbs up to Diane Humetewa, who was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

Humetewa, a member of the Hopi tribe, is the first Native American judge elevated to the federal bench. She is a former U.S. attorney in Arizona and is considered an expert on Native American legal issues.

It’s fitting that Humetewa received her law degree in 1993 from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. O’Connor was the first woman named to the U.S. Supreme Court and even now, during her very active “retirement” from the high court, she inspires other women to follow in her footsteps.

Thumbs down to people who don’t spend at least a few moments on Monday thinking of the men and women who paid the ultimate price in service to their country.

Yes, it’s Memorial Day weekend, the start of summer in most people’s minds. There is the Indianapolis 500, baseball and softball games, the NBA playoffs, barbecues and beer. We’re glad Americans take time to relax — we work hard and have earned it.

But Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, was created to honor those who have fallen to defend American interests. It has grown to include all of those who have left us, and that seems entirely appropriate.

There will be a Memorial Day ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday at Crown Hill Cemetery. If you want to know what this holiday is really all about, plan to attend it.