You've probably heard the old cliché: Three things you shouldn't talk about at work are religion, politics or money. Since we are in the thick of the current election cycle, folks can get pretty heated if the topic of politics comes up. Some folks have very definite positions 'for or against something' and some don't. I've even seen some folks almost come to blows because of their political persuasion.Last week, I was driving home from work and passed a political sign that has been in a neighbor's yard for a few weeks. The next afternoon I passed that sign yet again but this time, something had changed with the sign. Was it an act of free speech? Was it vandalized? Or, maybe it's a hate crime. In many jurisdictions, it's at least a crime of trespassing and maybe destruction of property.At Reservoir High School, Josh Choi got some very good news when he was named a 2017 National Merit semifinalist by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. His test score from the 2015 PSAT put him in the top 1 percent out of the more than 1.6 million students who had taken the test during the 2015-16 school year. Now Josh will compete to become a National Merit finalist with possible scholarships. Congratulations to Josh and his family. Keep up the outstanding work!Save the date! The Reservoir Boosters are sponsoring Basket Bingo on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. at St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel. Visit bingo.rhsboosterstore.com to purchase tickets or more information or send an email to Michelle Hyde, michelle_hyde@hcpss.org.