A tip of the hat to the health care workers who volunteered for the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations this week, and to the participants in clinical trials who volunteered to have the vaccine tested on them first.

Months of intensive research and trials with tens of thousands of participants have shown the vaccines approved so far by regulatory bodies around the world to be safe and highly effective. There is strong evidence that this unprecedented effort by humankind has successfully produced unprecedented results. But it still takes bravery to volunteer to lead the way on a new medical breakthrough.

As the world’s brightest scientific minds work to end the nightmare that is the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re grateful to those willing to step up and get the ball rolling, and we hope the rest of us have the opportunity to follow soon.

A kick in the pants to package thieves, scammers, Christmas decoration vandals and other grinches who always pop up this time of year to ruin peoples’ holiday spirit.

While we’ve seen some reports of that behavior on social media, we’re hoping that more people working from home and attending virtual school might present fewer easy targets.

Also, don’t forget that you don’t have to worry about packages getting lost, stolen or delayed if you buy local.

A tip of the hat to the city councilors and other elected officials meeting for the last time this month before turning the reins over to new faces in January 2021.

This week the Hermiston City Council recognized Manuel Gutierrez for his 15 years of service on the city council, the city’s budget committee and the Hispanic Advisory Committee. His fellow council members thanked him for his work in looking out for the community’s underdogs and helping the city’s Latino residents make their voice heard.

We tip our hat to him and to the many other deserving officials throughout Eastern Oregon who have put in many long hours serving their community.