High school football kicked off in Mississippi last Friday but some teams played shorter games — Natchez High among them — because of a severe lightning storm that converged on the area.

That is fine by us. We would rather our players be safe than sorry by playing under such conditions and risking not only players but also observers being struck by lightning.

The silver lining perhaps in last Friday’s rain out of opening football’s opening night is that no one was injured and some teams were able to play safely anyway.

Regardless, football season is underway and it will only get better each week from now until the playoffs and state championships. Enjoy and be safe, both on the field and in the stands.

Below we highlight a few other good news items of note from the past week.

* More than 300 people turned out to celebrate and welcome Vidalia Denim to the Miss-Lou. The company that purchased the former Fruit of the Loom facility in Vidalia, plans to start spinning cotton into yarn to be used in blue jeans and is expected to bring some 300 jobs to the area within the next eight or nine months. The news doesn’t get any better than that.

* This news, however, is almost as big as the Vidalia Denim item: Syrah Resources completed purchase last week of a facility in Vidalia where the company plans to hire some 40 employees to mill spherical graphite to be used in automotive batteries.

* Who doesn’t love a good game of dominoes? Only the people who have never played, of course. Once they’ve played, they will certainly understand Kenneth “Tree” Green’s fascination with the game. Green, who was featured in last week’s The Dart, is always up for a game with his friends on Minor Street.

Keep your eye out for good news this week. We’re sure it will pop up. See you under the Friday night lights.