Thumbs up, thumbs down

June 03, 2010

Up

To Christian Midgett, a member of the Boonsboro High School Class of 2010, for accumulating 706 hours of community service hours during her high school career. That is truly giving back to your community. Good job, Christy!

To the girls track teams at North Hagerstown and Smithsburg High Schools, and the baseball team at North High, for bringing home state championships to Washington County last week. And a tip of the hat to all the other individual champions during this spring sports seasons. Hard work pays dividends.

To all the communities and veterans organizations throughout the Tri-State area who hosted Memorial Day services last weekend. There's no better reason to bring communities together than in honoring our veterans and the sacrifices they've made for us.

To all members of the Class of 2010 from area high schools. Congratulations on your hard work and perseverance. Best wishes as you enter the next level of education or the working world.

To Lincolnshire Elementary School PTA, which raised more than $15,570 to be used for field trips and playground equipment at the Halfway-area school. Now, that's positively affecting your community.

To Judy Nakada, who is organizing the second annual reunion of former Fort Ritchie residents, which is scheduled for July 10.

To Franklin County (Pa.) officials for introducing the county to Commuter Services of Pennsylvania this week. The program encourages the use of carpools, working at home and alternative transportation to ease traffic congestion.

DOWN

To BP and the federal government for not acting faster and smarter to find a solution to the unprecedented oil leak in the Gulf region. Action should have been more aggressive when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded six weeks ago - not after the oil has spread to the coastlines.

To those who continue to not wear seat belts when riding in a vehicle. A recent government study estimates that in 2009 only 84 percent of motorists wore their seat belts regularly. On average, 38 unbelted people a day are killed in motor vehicle accidents in the United States. Remember, seat belts cost nothing to wear, but not wearing them could cost you everything.

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