It’s time for onions and orchids once again. I’ve got a bag of each to hand out.

An orchid to Gov. Charlie Baker for signing into law a bill that will ensure equal pay regardless of gender, as well as a tasteful bouquet to members of the General Court. It’s about time we acknowledged that work is work and the compensation shouldn’t be based on gender.

An onion to Gov. Charlie Baker for not approving the rail study proposed by state Sen. Eric Lesser to assess the best way to establish rail service between Springfield and Worcester and therefore Boston. Sorry, governor but as part of a comprehensive transportation plan we need the option of rail to add to what is already available.

An orchid to the management of Silverbrick Lofts, which is working to convert the Cabotville industrial building to market rate apartments. As the Urban Land Institute report on downtown Springfield noted, the best way to revitalize a downtown area is make it into a neighborhood. Downtown Chicopee already is a neighborhood, but additional housing will mean additional people seeking retail and services. Chicopee has been waiting for years to see the rebirth of Cabotville and it appears it will finally be here.

Both an onion and orchid to MGM for buying the former School Department building on State Street and not yet starting work on converting it into apartments. Could you at least seal up the two exterior stairwells at the building that lead to the basement? People use them for reasons best left unsaid. A fence around them might help.

An orchid to the Massachusetts Senate for passing the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act. This is needed legislation for working families and I’m glad the legislation has made it this far.

An orchid to the White Lion Wednesday events. They are a great networking and social event – plus the beer is pretty damn good as well!

An orchid to all of the owners of the vintage Indian Motocycles who drove their historic machines into the city for Indian Day. What a parade of history!

An onion to the leaders of the Democratic Party for their machination to help ensure Hillary Clinton would win the nomination. It sickened me to see how they were so determined to subvert the process of the primaries.

A whole bag of onions to Donald Trump for his attack on a Gold Star family. For the normally conservative Veterans of Foreign Wars Legion this was a bridge too far.

They released the following statement on Aug. 1: “Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump has a history of lashing out after being attacked, but to ridicule a Gold Star Mother is out-of-bounds, said the new national commander of the near 1.7 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Auxiliary. ‘Election year or not, the VFW will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression,’ said Brian Duffy, of Louisville, Ky., who was elected July 27 to lead the nation’s oldest and largest major war veterans organization. ‘There are certain sacrosanct subjects that no amount of wordsmithing can repair once crossed,’ he said. ‘Giving one’s life to nation is the greatest sacrifice, followed closely by all Gold Star families, who have a right to make their voices heard.’”

An orchid to Republican party official Sally Bradshaw, one of the authors of the 2012 report commissioned by the Republican national Committee to analyze why the Republicans lost. She announced she could not support Trump based on his behavior and statements.

She wrote, in part, “But we are at a crossroads and have nominated a total narcissist – a misogynist – a bigot. This is a time when country has to take priority over political parties. Donald Trump cannot be elected president. Donald Trump belittled a woman who gave birth to a son who died fighting for the United States. If anything, that reinforced my decision to become an independent voter.”