Diamonds to Josh Shapiro, Taylor Swift and Tony Brooks

We’re feeling positive about several good things this week, so we are pleased to serve up all diamonds and no coal.

Diamonds to the administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro for making it easier for someone to register to vote when they are getting or renewing a driver’s license in Pennsylvania.

Under the new format, described in an Associated Press story, prompts on the computer screens in driver’s license centers will take the user to a template to register to vote. That leaves it up to them to choose not to register. Previously, prompts on the computer screen first asked the user whether they wanted to register to vote.

There are too many people in this country who are doing everything in their power to reduce the number of people who vote through disinformation, intimidation, and outright manipulation of laws and rules.

Millions of Americans have fought and died to protect this sacred right. We applaud the Shapiro Administration for making it easier for more Pennsylvanians to exercise that right.

Diamonds, while we’re on that subject, to Pennsylvania native Taylor Swift. She urged her fans to register to vote in an Instagram story posted to her account on Tuesday, which was National Voter Registration Day (the same day the state initiative was announced).

She wrote: “I’ve been so lucky to see so many of you guys at my US shows recently. I’ve heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are. Make sure you’re ready to use them in our elections this year!”

Swift linked to Vote.org, a nonprofit and nonpartisan get-out-the-vote platform,

According to ABC News and other sources, Vote.org said 35,252 people registered to vote using its platform on Tuesday, and they attributed the spike in visitors to its site to Swift’s Instagram story post.

The jokes write themselves: “Look what she made them do,” Taylor’s in her “Civics Era,” and so on.

We would just say it’s always refreshing to see a celebrity use their influence for good.

Diamonds to Wilkes-Barré Preservation Society executive director and Hollenback Cemetery Association board member Tony Brooks, who will host the annual Fall walking tour of the cemetery, 540 N. River St., at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Brooks believes passionately in preserving and celebrating local history, and his enthusiasm has helped spread the word for many years.

We encourage anyone with an interest in the region’s history to take the tour, which never disappoints. It will explore the life and times of the Hollenback, Butler, Ross, Harvey, Conyngham, Kirby families and others who are the namesakes of many of Wilkes-Barre streets and parks.

“We meet coal miners and coal mine owners, from a Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, to a West Point superintendent, Civil War generals, Wilkes-Barre mayors, a library founder, a world-famous architect, and the world’s worst singer at Carnegie Hall,” a release from Brooks stated.

Established in 1855, the 20-acre cemetery serves as the final resting place for an estimated 16,000 people.

Tour price is $10 and benefits the restoration of damaged and weatherworn gravesites. Children are free. Reservations are not necessary but are encouraged by calling 570-793-3631.

— Times Leader