Posted: Thursday, November 1, 2007 12:00 am
Thumbs up
Closing schools is not something that's done lightly, but Racine Unified acted swiftly and correctly to close Starbuck and Mitchell middle schools and Mitchell Elementary Wednesday after a fast-moving illness swept through the buildings and left students complaining of headaches and stomach-aches. The mystery bug is still a mystery but the closings gave school officials a chance to sanitize the buildings and - we hope - quell the outbreak. City Health officials worked with the school district to set a course of action Wednesday afternoon when students began lining up outside the nurse's office at Starbuck. Their decision to err on the side of caution was a good call.
Thumbs up
Home ownership builds individual equity, pride in ownership and the community as well. Those are good goals and ones that Lincoln Lutheran of Racine clearly shares. Last week they announced their program to give $5,000 grants to two of the company's employees to help them buy their first homes. If the employees stay with Lincoln Lutheran for five years the grant is forgiven. The forgiveable loan program is one of three in the state in cooperation with the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority and it's worthy of a thumbs up.
Thumbs up
They're staying alive in Divisions 2 and 5. Thumbs up and good luck to Waterford and St. Catherine's as they wing their way into the WIAA boys football playoffs today and Saturday. Waterford is at Germantown in a quarterfinal matchup tonight and the 10-1 Angels take on undefeated Brillion at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Thumbs down
Thumbs down to radio station WMYX in Milwaukee for starting the annual Christmas music marathon on Wednesday. "Santa Baby" may be a popular song, but forcing it into people's ears at 8 a.m. on Nov. 1 is downright brutal. Thanksgiving is still three weeks away.
Thumbs down
A heck of a job. We see Karen Hughes, former White House confidante and advisor to President Bush, has resigned and is returning to Texas after trying to improve America's image through the public diplomacy program at the State Department. Under her direction the program's budget doubled to about $900 million, yet public opinion surveys show the image of the United States has not changed. Perhaps the administration could toss that spare billion at the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which the White House says is too expensive.
Thumbs up
Uninsured and underinsured county residents got some good news this week with the rollout of a discount drug prescription program through the National Association of Counties. The cards, available at most county facilities gives a 20 percent discount off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs. It may not be a cure-all, but it's certainly a step toward making needed medications more affordable.