CHEERS to Meals on Wheels, which not only makes extraordinary contributions to better lives for people every day but tailors its offerings as needed. One of the region's best-known nonagenarians, Dr. Angelo LaMariana of Plattsburgh, recently had to have esophageal surgery, meaning he had to have soft food exclusively for several days. When Meals on Wheels learned of his condition, he was told they could grind all of his meals so he could get the same nourishment in a form he could swallow. That's service beyond expectations and a great example of why Meals on Wheels has such value for people who can't prepare meals on their own.

JEERS to a young man who showed very bad form by running up behind a girl in front of Harrington Hall at Plattsburgh State one day last week and pushing her to the ground as she jogged for cross-country practice at Plattsburgh High. As she was running, a person (apparently a male) ran up from behind and pushed her forward, knocking her to the ground. Some bystanders yelled at him to point out his poor judgment in no uncertain terms. It's hard to imagine what could have provoked someone to knock some stranger down, at random. It's such inexplicable behavior that it winds up in the newspaper. CHEERS, though, to the female college student who stopped to help the shocked victim back to her feet and also the Campus Police, who are trying to get to the bottom of this odd assault.

CHEERS to Plattsburgh Mayor Donald Kasprzak and Police Chief Desmond Racicot for tenacity in trying to solve what may be an especially despicable crime in the city. They read in Speakout Wednesday that some young people — allegedly college fraternity members, but who knows? — were seen harassing a pair of church members going door to door evangelizing. The harassment was physical, as well as verbal, the Speakout said. Speakout arrives anonymously, and it didn't name specific individuals, so it was not libelous and didn't impugn anyone. As a matter of fact, publishing the Speakout may have done some good, as Racicot is now actively trying to find someone who will attest to the incident and give any information on it. If this kind of behavior is going on in our region, we very badly want it to be routed out and prosecuted. Racicot is asking anyone who can talk about it to contact him. That's the kind of attitude a community wants in its police department. Law-abiding citizens are as appalled at this conduct as he is. We hope that, if true, the Speakout leads to an arrest.