The Darts and Laurels feature of The Oakland Press is a small column that appears on Saturdays.

But it seems to have some big readership — and we’re glad.

For those of you have haven’t noticed, we run four, one or two sentence items with a “Thumbs Up” or Thumbs Down” icon. As they imply, we’re saying that something is good or bad. It’s a short, brief way to give credit where credit is due or to scold a person or a group that we believe deserves chastising.

The items that draw the judgment were stories that appeared sometime during the past week or occasionally, the week before. They don’t have to be front page stories, any item in the newspaper on any page is fair game for inclusion in this feature.

For example, someone convicted of a crime would, understandably get a “Thumbs Down.” Sometimes we give the negative digit to groups, such as municipal governing bodies that don’t seem to act in the best interest of its citizens. For example, if we had a story on a government unit wasting tax dollars, then it would get an appropriate “Thumbs Down” on Saturday.

More common, however, are the “Thumbs Up.” You’ll easily notice that of the four items presented, usually only one is a “Thumbs Down” while the others are “Thumbs Up.” The positive gesture is given to individuals who have earned special honors or done something outstanding or groups that have similar claims to fame.

We usually don’t hear from readers unless they adamantly disagree with one of our items or if they believe we left someone or a group out that deserves recognition.

On Friday I’ll discuss how one positive item has led to a second, equally positive one because of reader feedback.