Praise to all of the candidates running in the Nov. 7 general election. Your commitment to help is what makes our communities great.

Praise to the Tulalip Resort Casino for its Raising Hands dinner to honor local social service groups. Actually, it’s the groups that should be putting on the dinner for the tribes, which provided the groups with $7.5 million in funding.

Praise to Rebecca Kirkpatrick, a new local pastor who is gay and preaches about acceptance.

Praise to Marysville Getchell’s girls soccer team for ending the drought and going to state.

Praise to Marysville’s K-9 unit, which seems to helping catch criminals all over Puget Sound. Praise to Arlington for its annual Halloween festival.

Praise to Mountain View Presbyterian Church for helping people deal with grief around the holidays.

Praise to local firefighters who went to California to battle the devastating blazes there.

Praise to the Warborn Motorcycle Club for raising money to help Jace’s family deal with his cancer.

Praise to the Arlington Cannibas Coalition for lighting up downtown.

Raze to the correction officer arrested for indecent exposure. We are supposed to be able to trust you.

Praise to the Arlington School Board not only for your state honor, but also for trying to keep taxes level and still pass a big bond measure.

Praise to the Tulalip Tribes for their Wellness Court. We look forward to the day when Arlington and Marysville also reach the point where they can help their citizens in a similar way.

Praise to Marysville and Arlington for banding together in the fight against panhandlers. The community at-large deserves better. And so do they if they are willing to accept help.

Praise to the Marysville School District and the Tulalip Tribes for their involvement in Unity and Wellness Month. Educating the public, rather than keeping things quiet, is the only way to solve problems.

Praise to Leah’s Foundation for donating to Kellogg-Marsh Elementary to help build a playground that kids of all abilities can enjoy.

Praise to the Scouts for all the community service work they did all over town recently.

Praise to Rick McCarthy for donating his Seahawks car to the Marysville Rotary to raise money for scholarships and other club causes.

Praise to Arlington for putting on such fun fall community events as the Viking Festival and Sk8 Festival. Praise to the Arlington Drug Awareness Coalition for having BMX star Tony Hoffman share his story.

Raze that more people didn’t attend. We can’t become numb to drug addiction. We have to keep battling it and sharing the stories of recovery to give people hope.

Praise to the Marysville-Pilchuck High School class of 2018. Nobody should have to go through what you all have. Praise to local firefighters for giving out coats for kids in need.

Praise to Arlington for recognizing Vikki McMurray and her group for volunteering to paint over graffiti in town.

Praise to all of the new Maryfest members and board. We hope you can save the Marysville Strawberry Festival and make it better than ever.

Praise to kids who look into going into trade industry. Those workers are needed badly. If college is not for you, try it.

Raze to bullies. Use your mind not your might to solve problems. Most times a little patience and respect is all that’s needed.

Praise to Tulalip, Arlington and Marysville for going after Amazon’s second headquarters. We’ve got the quality of life they don’t have closer to Seattle that is for sure.