Thumbs up, thumbs down 8/18

November 09, 2001

Thumbs up, thumbs down 8/18

Thumbs up! To Hagerstown City Council members, for their pledge of $50,000 to Community Rescue Service, the chief emergency medical service provider for city residents. It's a giant step forward.

Thumbs up!

To Kathy Siggins, a Mt. Airy, Md., woman who turned the grief she felt after her husband's death from Alzheimer's disease into a drive to get the U.S. Postal Service to issue a special stamp which would help fund research on that disease.

Thumbs down! To Rep. Gary Condit, for his plan to go ahead with an Oct. 20 campaign fund-raiser despite his involvement with Chandra Levy, an intern half his age missing since May 1. Has this guy got chutzpah or what?

Thumbs up!

To S. Barry Klohr, commander of a Civil War re-enactor group that participated in the recent Battle of Funkstown, for apologizing because some in his unit violated the event's no-alcohol rule. Klohr didn't attend, but took responsibility anyway.

Thumbs down! To all the state governments which accepted millions from the national tobacco settlement, but have spent just 5 percent of the cash for stop-smoking measures. Many dollars went to general-fund budgets.

Thumbs down!

To the owner of a monkey which allegedly bit three girls last month at an Inwood, W.Va. trailer park. There's a reason they're called "wild animals," and it's not because these primates like to party all the time.

? ? ? To Dennis Ray Weidner, arrested at York, Pa. County Courthouse after he emptied his pockets at the security desk and guards found two rocks of crack cocaine. Did he hope they wouldn't notice?

Thumbs up! To James Cooper, Kenneth Wasilius, Roy Cave, Ronald Graves, Ronald Trumpower, Dennis Ballam and Robert Frick, recently retired Hagerstown police officers, for the many years they spent keeping the citizens safe and the city a civilized place.

Thumbs up! To Hagerstown Community College, for forming a partnership with E. Russell Hicks Middle School, to inspire more youngsters to consider going on to college after high school.

Thumbs up! To West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, for his administration's program to provide free or low-cost health insurance for children up until age 18. For parents working at jobs that don't provide health coverage, it's a godsend.

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