Thumbs up to L-BF community
Thumbs up to the Littlefork-Big Falls school district community for attending informational meetings about a four-day school week. Many of those attending the meetings would not be directly impacted, but attended to hear about the idea as a member of the larger community.

Thumbs up to survivors
Thumbs up to the brave survivors of the Jonestown massacre in Guyana. On the 30th anniversary, a memorial service in Oakland, Calif., displayed the first panels of a stone wall that is to have the names of more than 900 victims inscribed. In recent years, more survivors have been attending the service, as it has become more widely accepted that they were ordinary people betrayed by a charismatic minister who lured them to an integrated church with programs for the poor.

Thumbs up to Ray Anderson friends
Thumbs up to the friends and relatives of the late Ray Anderson, that put together a memorial circle last Friday to remember and honor the renowned photographer and environmentalist. People came from around the area and from as far as New Jersey and Philadelphia to talk about the impact Anderson and his spouse Ruth have had with instilling a passion for sailing, reading, the arts, music, history and the Oberholtzer Society.

Thumbs up to transparency
Thumbs up to the U.S. Congress for not rubber stamping the attempts of the Federal Reserve to rewrite the conditions for its control over transparency of $700 billion in bailout money. The Reserve would also have its way without disclosing details on more than $2 trillion in taxpayer funds regarding emergency loans, claiming it would impact the lending agreements.

Thumbs down to automakers
Thumbs down to the U.S. automakers for demanding a bailout after years of incentives to produce more fuel efficient and new technology vehicles that would make them more competitive. Instead, they sought government tax breaks for consumers that would buy gas guzzling SUVs and vehicles that stopped selling as gas prices rose and the economy tanked. This is not a condemnation of the workers that produce more with less, but of top management decisions that made the bed they find themselves in today.

Thumbs up to acting with compassion
Thumbs up to the people, who through agencies and churches, or on their own initiative, continue to work toward improving the quality of life for Koochiching County’s increasing poor and homeless.
Their support, whether it be in keeping families warm, feeding their hunger, giving them a soft or safe place to fall, or guidance and counseling, is a benefit to everyone who lives in the county. And thumbs up to all those who provide money or other in-kind donations so this work can be done.

Thumbs up to Looking Back
Thumbs up to Kathy Brokaw of the Falls Public Library who provides The Daily Journal with the fun and interesting details from Borderland’s history 10, 25, 40, 50 and 60 years ago. Brokaw sorts and selects the historical morsels from old Daily Journal issues to be published once again so readers can stroll through the past with remembrance and reminiscence.

Thumbs up to FHS baseball team
Thumbs up to the 22 players who completed more than 45 hours of service work each around the community to raise money for their trip to Florida next spring.

Thumbs down to carelessness
Thumbs down to people being careless with fire. A bonfire made by college students that hadn’t been fully extinguished was found to be the cause of one of the three wildfires in California this past weekend. Fire officials said it is not uncommon for such fires to have the potential to re-ignite days later. The fire burned 1,900 acres and injured more than two dozen people.