A tip of the hat to those willing to take social distancing guidelines seriously as Eastern Oregon businesses reopen and restaurants allow dining in once again.

With freedom comes personal responsibility, and people will have the choice in the weeks and months ahead to decide how comfortable they feel engaging in activities, such as going to the gym and receiving a haircut. That’s their right to make that decision for themselves, based on their personal circumstances.

What is not OK is the videos and anecdotes that have surfaced around the country of people using the reopening to yell at workers who are just trying to do their jobs, encroach on others’ personal space to mock them for wearing a mask, or blatantly disregard rules that have been put in place to reduce transmission of COVID-19.

If you go to a restaurant with 12 people and a server informs you that you’re only allowed to have parties of 10 or fewer, please keep in mind that however silly you might think that rule is, it was not created by that employee and taking your frustrations out on them does nothing productive.

We hope that as businesses reopen here, we will see people be respectful of employees and other customers by following the guidelines put in place to help protect everyone.

A tip of the hat to everyone involved in getting a major water supply project over the finish line in Eastern Oregon.

The completion of the West Project in east Morrow County will allow farmers to irrigate about 30,000 acres of land that was previously taken out of production or used for less productive dryland farming because there wasn’t enough groundwater to go around.

The project, along with two companion projects that are still in the process, will be a significant boost to the area’s economy through new jobs and additional revenue for growers. There are also environmental benefits, including a chance to ease burdens on the aquifer in critical groundwater areas.

A long list of farmers, politicians and organizations worked hard for three decades to pull this win off, and we tip our hats to their success.