A poet once called April the cruelest month, but April is in fact a month of hope; spring is here after a long dark winter. The time has changed and later sunsets bring longer, brighter days. There will still be snow, but when it comes it is soon gone. This April in particular we should be thankful we live in such a peaceful, beautiful place. The little problems and debates we cover in our paper seem almost petty when compared to the death and carnage in Ukraine and the millions of people displaced by an unjust war. 

For the people of Ukraine this April is truly the cruelest month. People in our area moved quickly to provide aid to its beleaguered population, not just people of Ukrainian origin but a wide cross section of citizens. In a global world, a war faraway leaves no one untouched. The economic effects of the invasion of Ukraine are already being felt and will continue for much of this year, if not longer. 

April is still a month of hope; hope that the world can return to peace. And April is for us still the month of renewal and a time when we can be thankful to live in a peaceful, beautiful place.