Thumbs up, down

Beltrán bows out, Altuve doffs his MVP cap, and a historic eatery is back in business.

The cold front scheduled to arrive this afternoon with fall-like temperatures can’t get here fast enough. The Thumbsmobile dashboard thermometer read 90 degrees Tuesday. Enough of the M&Ms: muggy and mosquitoes.

Among the many, many things the Astros did correctly this year was bringing back 40-year-old Carlos Beltrán, a fountain of wisdom and insight in the clubhouse. He’s going out on top. “I had always dreamed about winning a championship,” wrote Beltrán in an online retirement announcement. “I chased every opportunity to do so in my career. But I never thought that I needed to win a World Series to make my career complete. Like I said before, I realized early on that my purpose in this game was to share knowledge with younger players and to give back to the game of baseball. … Over 20 years, I feel like I accomplished that. So whether we won or lost Game 7, I would have still been happy with my career. But it still feels

nice to have a ring.”

MVP José Altuve

Steam again rises from the counters at Cleburne Cafeteria and West U’s AARP card holders are smiling again. The 5-star monument to baked fish, mac and cheese and poodle-sized slices of pie reopened on Bissonnet after a 2016 fire. Owner George Mickelis, surrounded by his father’s restored paintings, was at his generous best, giving away mountains of free food during the soft opening.

We accept that the deity works in mysterious ways, but we’re saddened by the loss this week of two who worked so hard to better Houston and Texas.

• Salatheia Bryant-Honors began her career as a journalist before turning to the cloth. A longtime Chronicle reporter, she gained a divinity degree and assumed the pulpit at Reedy Chapel in Galveston, the state’s oldest A.M.E. church, before breast cancer took her from us.

• Steve Mostyn was a giant in Texas Democratic politics. He died Wednesday and a statement from his wife says much. “If you or a loved one are thinking about suicide or experiencing a health crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline right now at 1-800-2738255.”

We strongly believe the woman driving a truck around these parts with a hideous decal (the message rhymes with duck and then says Trump) is a crass nincompoop. But the Fort Bend County sheriff is a close second by making what should be a First Amendment issue into a criminal matter. If that’s the case, then we need a bigger jail in College Station. Among the hottestselling items on Aggie game days are T-shirts expressing the same sentiments toward Alabama, Mississippi State and other SEC rivals.

Mayor Sylvester Turner, time and again, has made the correct policy moves trying to care for the city’s homeless, estimated to be just north of 1,000 people. About 200 of them live in encampments under freeways in Midtown and near Minute Maid Park. This week the mayor ordered a “deep cleansing” of the areas, which are filthy and increasingly dangerous. The 200 homeless squatters ought to be in safe compounds with access to mental health professionals, social workers and basic necessities like clean water and toilets. But thanks to what we consider to be a frivolous lawsuit by the ACLU, the situation continues to deteriorate. We reiterate our call to the ACLU to come up with a solution and for the judge to quickly rule on the matter.

While the bulk of Texas’ congressional delegation was signing on to a tax cut bill that raises taxes on the middle class, the White House stiffed the state on its request for Harvey relief funds. Greg Abbott asked for $61 billion. The Trump budget office proposes to split $44 billion between Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. Republican House leaders issued a statement saying Trump’s action was “insufficient and unacceptable.” John Cornyn echoed them. They should have been paying more attention to this bill instead of trusting the process.