By The Standard-Examiner Editorial Board

Who deserves praise and criticism this week in Northern Utah?

THUMBS UP: More of us than others have been guilty of it, but it’s something we all as Utahns can improve upon: driving hands-free of our cellphones. There’s plenty on them to distract us — between messages, alerts, music, podcasts and, yes, still phone calls — while sitting and walking, muc…

Who deserves praise and criticism this week in Northern Utah?

We as a community are not discussing the rates and impact of sexual assault in Utah as frequently as necessary.

By the Standard-Examiner Editorial Board

THUMBS DOWN: It’s not that far into the school year yet and weird things are happening. This week Weber High School students were evacuated after several randomly started falling ill from an unknown substance. While the others might have enjoyed getting out of school early that day, it’s unu…

Who deserves praise, criticism in Northern Utah this week?

This week residents of this great nation have mourned the death of former presidential candidate and Arizona Sen. John McCain, with statements and gestures of honor coming from all kinds regardless of party or camp.

THUMBS UP: It’s important that Ogden City Council continue to work on and plan for Ogden’s future water needs and the infrastructure that will require. According to a Standard-Examiner report, since Ogden’s last culinary water plan was adopted in 2012, construction of a new water treatment p…

THUMBS UP: It’s great to continue to see Utah’s economy performing well, and that unemployment rates, specifically in Northern Utah counties, are improving year over year as well. Morgan County saw a jump of employment increases by 11.5 percent!

Like many businesses, the Standard-Examiner has ebbed and flowed with the changes of time since its inception in 1888, but its commitment has always remained married to the community.

WASHINGTON -- President Trump took to television Tuesday to "clarify" his position on alleged Russian meddling in our 2016 presidential election, as stated at the Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin. The only thing he clarified was his astonishing ability to make matters worse for himself.

The new rising star of the Democratic Party is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The 28-year-old former bartender doesn't know much about politics -- this week, she bungled her way through an interview answer by referring to Israeli "occupation" of Palestine and citing her lack of expertise on the i…

The Trump administration revived calls for privatizing air traffic control services last month as part of a broader proposal to reorganize and modernize the federal government.

The indictment of a dozen Russian spies explained, in great detail, the extent of their interference in the 2016 election. Americans learned about the depth and extent of the Russian operation to interfere.

Want to sip a refreshing beverage this summer?

First it was Republican Congressman Jim Jordan. Now it's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

As the political season heats up, Donald Trump is ramping up his lies through three amplifiers: his rallies, Fox News and his Twitter account.

Bad politicians do not translate automatically to bad policy. Scott Pruitt was not an acceptable administrator of President Donald Trump’s environmental policies — but that does not mean Trump should change them.

In a scene in the 1933 film "Duck Soup," the character played by Chico, the most underrated of the funny Marx Brothers, is dressed like another character, and when the other man leaves the room, the woman who remains is surprised to see Chico. She tells him she saw him leave. Chico's respons…

A fascinating series of controversies erupted this past week, and they had nothing to do with Donald Trump or Robert Mueller.

What a blessing to finally have a president who's looking out for us, the American taxpayers, versus kowtowing to globalist elites and NATO members who've been exploiting the United States by failing to pay their fair share in military defense spending.

The U.S. economy continues to show strength in the wake of tax reform and deregulation, but the downside of robust growth is that Donald Trump thinks this means he can dabble at trade war with impunity. He ought to look at the signs that growth would be even stronger if not for his border-ta…

Twelve boys and their adult coach trapped in a dank, oxygen-deprived cave in Thailand riveted the world's attention for two weeks. Why, people ask at times like this, are we so focused on these individuals when half a million Rohingya refugee children are in danger of starving on the Banglad…

In these warm Ohio months, when my daughter was an infant, I'd strap her into the stroller most evenings and take her for a long walk before bedtime.

U.S. President Donald Trump limbered up in the bullpen for his meeting with NATO alliance leaders this week by riffing on one of his favorite themes: getting ripped off.

In an era of partisan polarization, it is rare to get agreement on anything, but about this there should be a consensus: The Supreme Court is an undemocratic institution whose power should be carefully circumscribed.

Warren Farrell was once considered a feminist leader. He hung around with Gloria Steinem and wrote about why men and women should break out of rigid old gender roles.

A man I have known since grade school changed his name, years ago, to an Arabic one. He told me he rejected Christianity as "the white man's religion that justified slavery." He argued Africans taken out of that continent were owed reparations. "From whom?" I asked.

Each week the Standard-Examiner hashes out issues large and small and takes a thumbs-up, thumbs-down stance. Have a thumbs-up or thumbs-down you’d like to give? Email a submission of 100 words or less to jmccabe@standard.net.

Summer is meant to be a time for family, friends, fun and relaxing. However, as several recent events have shown, it also can quickly turn into a time of tragedy, which is why safety must be paramount in all outdoor activities.

As we enter into what surely will be another contentious confirmation process for a new Supreme Court justice, let's consider underlying realities that deeply divide us and make it so hard to agree about how our Constitution should be interpreted and applied.