The Soapbox: Daily Herald editors offer brief thoughts on suburban topics in the news.

Silver lining

Northeastern Illinois has the most COVID-19 cases in the state, but it also has cutting-edge medical institutions that have mounted ingenious efforts to step up testing and numerous clinical trials to find treatments and preventatives. We are grateful.

No spring sports

Illinois high school athletes got the news this week they were hoping not to hear: Spring sports are canceled because of the coronavirus. It's a tough break for the student athletes who were looking forward to competing, but particularly rough for seniors. More heartbreak brought on by this terrible disease.

Three Sister Cities

We're not sure any town really needs three Sister Cities, but if Naperville absolutely had to pick a third, the Mexican vacation hot spot Cancun probably is as good as any. For those of you keeping track at home, the others are Nitra, Slovakia, and Pátzcuaro, México.

A cut above

In the midst of a pandemic, it's encouraging to see how creative people get with their altruism. Campton Hills financial adviser Nick Ninedorf helped the Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry with a fundraiser where the amount pledged would determine how his wife would cut his hair live on Facebook. He ended up with the Costanza cut, and the food pantry ended up with $15,000. Kudos!

Dinner and quite a show

Furthering the levity is the McCall family. The Geneva residents started a series of elaborate dinners, with costumes, props and post-meal activities, on March 30 with an Italian wedding celebration. Since then, themes have included "Star Wars," "Grease," "The Breakfast Club" and "The Wizard of Oz." Now that's family bonding during a crisis.

Congrats to Angela

In a time where we all need some positivity, the news that Maine West senior girls basketball player Angela Dugalic earned the Illinois Ms. Basketball award certainly qualifies. The University of Oregon signee has shown at every turn that in addition to being an elite athlete, she's an elite student-athlete and person as well.

A kid's perspective

Tired of hearing all about the coronavirus from the president and governor? Your preteen might want to give Luca DeSanto a try. Luca, 11, a sixth-grader in Chicago, has been doing regular coronavirus podcasts for two weeks called "COVID From the Kid."

A year to remember

Here's a question: How do you put together a 2019-20 high school yearbook when nearly a third of the year is missing? "By thinking way, way, way out of the box," one yearbook adviser told us. This year will be one to remember, and we hope advisers are sharing their great ideas with each other. We're eager to see how far out of the box they go.

Stay with it, stay strong, stay healthy

We all feel the strain of isolation. But imagine the strain if you or a loved one were hospitalized with COVID-19.

Stay in our heartsl

Our thoughts and our prayers go out to those dealing directly with this crisis.