A Thumbs-up, thumbs-down assessment of newsmakers here and beyond:

THUMBS-UP: Among the sure indicators that the chill of winter soon will make way for the splendor of spring is Waynesboro's annual Taste of the Town event. This year's shindig takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Fairfax Hall. An array of professional and celebrity chefs will be on hand serving up a vast menu of tasty fixings. Proceeds from the ninth annual event benefit Waynesboro Downtown Development Inc., the same group that puts together the chili cookoff in the fall and the Christmas in the River City event during the holiday season. Events like these pump life into the downtown and pull people into our city. We toast the Taste of the Town and look forward to the fun and good eats.

THUMBS-DOWN: Those ear-piercing screams echoing from Florida and Michigan spring not from the strained throat of Howard Dean but bear nonetheless the shrill ring of the Democratic National Committee chairman and renowned yelper. The two states defied Dean and DNC rules by staging primaries in advance of Feb. 5. So the party powers decided to strip the states of their delegates, 210 for Florida and 156 for Michigan. Had Barack Obama, the ear-pleasing Democratic senator from Illinois, bounced Hillary Clinton, the wonkish Democratic senator from New York, with wins Tuesday in Texas and Ohio, the relevance of Florida and Michigan would be moot. But with the party's nomination yet to be claimed, cries of disenfranchisement have arisen. For reviving the d-word, the linguistic specter of the 2000 election debacle, Dean and the rest of his party cronies should be treated to a glass-shattering yell from the rest of America. Now there is talk of do-over primaries in Florida and Michigan. Perhaps Florida should forget the whole presidential politics thing altogether. Obviously, the Sunshine State does not know how to do this. Another round of primaries would cost millions of dollars. Counting the votes from those states is not an attractive option either, since the candidates hardly bothered to campaign there. Blame the DNC for failing to work out an equitable solution before the votes were cast. Blame the states for holding primaries despite knowing the consequences in advance. Blame Dean, whose legendary 2000 primary howls are surpassed only by his enduring vacuity.

THUMBS-UP: For a school with a proud tradition in both its boys and girls basketball programs, Waynesboro's feat in sending both squads to the state playoffs at the same time is an impressive first and an intriguing study in contrasts. The 1991 girls reached the state playoffs in the fall, followed by the boys who made the tourney after the winter season. Both teams took home the state crowns then. This time around, both Little Giants teams will play Saturday on the same floor at James Madison University. Fiery rookie coach Secrett Stubblefield leads the girls, stirring players and fans alike with a high-octane style that would have made the late Jimmy Valvano smile. Crafty veteran boys coach C. Jay DeWitt is low-key by comparison. Both have delivered stellar results. Best of luck to the Little Giants, and the remainder of the area state tourney field - the Wilson Memorial and Buffalo Gap girls and the Robert E. Lee and Nelson County boys.