Applause to all the veterans whose service we celebrate today, Veterans Day. We should honor our nation’s heroes every day of the year, not just on Nov. 11. Toward that goal, The Inter-Mountain’s Unsung Heroes series has featured veterans each Monday since Memorial Day, highlighting stories and photographs of men and women who have served in various branches of service from World War II to the present The Inter-Mountain’s staff members have been privileged to share these stories. The newspaper will host an informal reception to thank the people who participated in the 2017 series, which will conclude Monday, as well as all veterans. The reception, which will include light refreshments, is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Randolph County Senior Center on Railroad Avenue in Elkins. The event is open to all veterans, local officials and the community. More information is available by calling The Inter-Mountain’s newsroom at 304-636-2124.

Applause to the announcement that the Central West Virginia Development Association has received a $3 million Community-Oriented Connecting Broadband Grant, which will provide accessible broadband to 3,600 households and businesses in Upshur, Barbour and Randolph counties. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Buckhannon-Upshur High School students and local officials gathered in the high school’s auditorium Monday to discuss what the project will mean to the local area.

Applause to the ribbon cutting and open house announcing that a simulation lab for Davis & Elkins College students has been created on Davis Medical Center’s campus.The Center for Advanced Clinical Learning will provide nursing students from D&E, as well as nurses from DMC, the opportunity to learn and practice in a realistic, yet “risk-free” environment. This collaboration between the college and the hospital has resulted in a wonderful new benefit for our community.

Applause to the groundbreaking Friday for the new Mon Health state-of-the-art heart and vascular facility along Railroad Avenue in Elkins. The improved center — an 8,000 square-foot building — is expected to open in late summer 2018. The center will feature exam rooms, cardiac rehabilitation and diagnostic testing for patients.

Boo to the news that several “sink-hole”-type cave-ins have occurred in Elkins on top of Buffalo Creek, which runs underneath portions of the town. The underground culvert containing the creek was built many decades ago, and the cave-ins, which are occurring due to the passage of time and erosion, aren’t the fault of any one person or the town government. However, it makes us wonder what other secrets might be lurking under the infrastructure of our communities, secrets that will only be revealed through unexpected damages or calamities. With so many things to worry about in our modern world, it’s eerie to think that more problems might be coursing silently under our feet, beneath the streets of the towns we live in.