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"It's good for the environment, but it's also good for my pocketbook." Those were the words of a ZENN master this week as the Racine City Council voted to allow electric cars on streets where the speed limit is 35 mph or less. The action creating a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle Ordinance was required by state law before Racinian Julie Conigliaro was able to operate her ZENN, a $10,500 electric vehicle that travels at a rate of 25 mph and has a range of 35 miles before needing a recharge. ZENN, the make of the vehicle made by the ZENN Motor Co., stands for Zero Emissions, No Noise. The new ordinance got a unanimous vote of approval from the council, which might well have been influenced by the news that day that oil prices surged to a new record amid some forecasts that it would go up again by 60 percent in the next two years.

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Last week we bemoaned the "plentiful supply" of bad news stories in our news pages over the course of that week. Like others, we sometimes forget the plentiful supply of good news stories that dominate our columns week after week. A good antidote to the glum news is almost always found in our A-Plus section on Tuesdays, which chronicles the achievements and adventures of the young people in our community. As we head toward graduation days, awards ceremonies and prom, those pages are filled with uplifting news as a sampling from A-Plus this week showed - news of St. Catherine's students volunteering with Habitat for Humanity; Burlington High School students earning high marks in Solo & Ensemble competition; Horlick Chorale and Singers performing in Arizona; Park High School excelling in Health Occupation Students of America competition; Case students participating in Model United Nations; honor rolls, students advancing in scholarship competion, essay contest winners. Those student achievements put the other news of the day in its place and give us a better perspective on the world close around us.

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Five years old already? It seems like just yesterday the Racine Art Museum opened its doors to showcase crafts and artwork from around here and around the world. The museum's spectral presence just north of Monument Square has been a major boost in the transformation of the city's Downtown and, along with the Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, has lured almost 50,000 visitors each year. The elevation of RAM to one of the nation's top craft museums comes in part because of the board's vision, the work of the museum's executive director, Bruce Pepich, and the dedication and patronage of Karen Johnson Boyd, who has donated significant collections through the years. To celebrate its first five years, RAM will host a free open house on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. - a nice way to cap off that Mother's Day brunch.

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Brew-hoo, hoo. Yeah, Brewer fans are crying in their beer already as the Milwaukee team struggles through a major league slump. Headed into the Marlin game Thursday night, the Brewers were saddled with a five game losing streak that put them below the .500 mark for the first time this season. With its second-best pitcher out with what might be a season-ending knee injury, Brewer fans may be shedding beer tears for weeks to come.

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Thumbs up for the stupidity of criminals, specifically the alleged San Diego college fraternity drug dealers who welcomed agents into their midst with open arms, or at least without suspicion. Law enforcement agents used to being vetted thoroughly by suspicious drug dealers leery of being arrested found that they needed almost no credentials to buy anything they wished at the college, and they alleged that one student drove his drug sale proceeds directly to a bank - in his Lexus. And all these budding thinkers managed to gain admission to college. Perhaps watching TV would have given them a better education in life.