Thumbs up to county board
Thumbs up to the Koochiching County Board for its continued dedication to the county’s veterans. About 10 percent of the county’s population are veterans and many residents have friends and family members who are veterans. The commissioners have been working toward moving the veteran’s memorial from inside the courthouse to an area east of the courthouse. The outdoor memorial would allow for people to visit at anytime, as well as allow them to spend some time at the memorial with the placement of benches at the memorial. At its current location, visitors can see the memorial during business hours at the courthouse. Families can also dedicate a bench or tree in honor or in memory of a veteran. As an additional benefit, the memorial will also add to the overall look of the city center of International Falls.

Thumbs up to nurse organization
Thumbs up to the School Nurse Organization of Minnesota for suggesting a way to reverse the shortage of school nurses. A new study revealed that eight in 10 school nurses in the state think there is a shortage in the profession and three of four nurses think student’s needs aren’t being met due to low staffing levels. The average ratio in Minnesota is one school nurse per 1,400 students. A ratio of 1 per 750 healthy students is recommended by the National Association of School Nurses. The school nurses’ organization is suggesting a one-cent tax on each 12-ounce carbonated beverage sold in Minnesota, which could raise as much as $29 million annually. The money would allow the hiring of 600 additional school nurses.

Thumbs up to VFW
Thumbs up to the Falls VFW for honoring Don Reuter and Paul Reuter, two cousins and each a past commander, for a combined 100 years of service to their country and to the organization.

Thumbs up to cliche
Thumbs up to the father-son duo of Bill and Chad Sohlman. Featured a week ago in the sports pages, the two were captured playing catch at Scheela Field at Falls High School. Cliche? Absolutely. Necessary to improve on the diamond? Double absolutely. In a borderland area saturated with passion about sports, it's always good to witness athletes trying to improve during the offseason. It's rare to find an athlete who can just show up and succeed at the high school level and even more rare at the college level. Kudos to the father-son combination for instilling habits that will pay dividends down the road.

Mixed thumbs to teacher initiative
Mixed thumbs to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's SMART initiative to improve classroom quality. His measures emphasize accountability for academic results, but cause concern that the pressure on outcome will encourage teachers to narrow their focus on assessment testing and not necessarily higher learning.
Thumbs up to his “summer of success” program will provides essential remedial and proven methods to help at-risk kids improve their core math and reading skills that will in turn improve their overall academic performance.
His "teaching transformation act” places higher acceptance standards for people pursing teaching as a profession, and follows through with required training and options all through their careers. It provides impressive statistics to show the difference that highly qualified and motivated teachers have on their students.

Thumbs up to bridge testimony
Thumbs up to Rep. Jim Oberstar for his Sept. 10 testimony to Congress on the need to address the nation’s aging and structurally deficient bridges. His continued work benefits the country with the replacement of aging span bridges, and the safety of motorists should be a primary concern.

Thumbs down to the NFL for being overzealous in doling out fines for just playing the game.
Packers linebacker Nick Barnett is appealing the second fine he received from the NFL in the past two weeks. Barnett was fined $7,500 for a helmet-to-helmet contact on a hit of Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna in week two, and also fined $7,500 for a horse-collar tackle of Minnesota quarterback Tarvaris Jackson in week one. Barnett wasn’t called for a penalty by the officials for either punishable act.
While it’s admirable for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to put an emphasis on player safety, it’s hard for the athletes to play a physical game without being physical. If a penalty flag had been thrown during the game, it would be more reasonable for Barnett to then also receive a fine.

Thumbs up to teachers
Thumbs up to all the teachers who care enough to teach children. Teaching is a thankless job and is getting tougher every day. Thumbs up to those who work on the front lines of knowledge, battling bureaucracy and red tape, just to teach our children to read and write. Thumbs up to those who don't give up on that child who struggles day in and day out but eventually learns, too.

Thumbs up to Twins
Thumbs up to the Minnesota Twins. Whether they beat out the Chicago White Sox or not for a playoff spot, Minnesota's favorite Major League Baseball team has exceeded expectations in 2008. No Matt Garza? No Jason Bartlett? No Johan Santana? No Torii Hunter? No problem. The Twins have a young and talented nucleus — led by lefties Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer — and are in position to blast into Target Field in 2010 with a highly competitive squad. Maybe even a world championship squad? It's not out of the question next year.