Journal-News.com

Here are this week's "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" selections:

Thumbs up to those donors who helped the Butler County United Way's "Campaign for Hope" raise $150,000 recently. The emergency campaign — started after the United Way failed to reach its 2008 campaign goal — set out to raise $200,000 in order to avoid funding cuts to area social service agencies, a sum that was quite a tall order. Although the $200,000 goal wasn't reached, the $150,000 raised will prevent funding cuts that could have been as high as 20 percent, officials said. They gave credit to Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones, who lent his support to the emergency campaign, and Duke Energy, which donated $25,000 in all, for its success.

Thumbs up to Butler County commissioners for renewing their opposition to the Ohio E-Check auto-emissions program, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reportedly thinking about bringing back to southwest Ohio. Commissioners passed a resolution expressing their dissent on Monday, March 9. "It did not work and it did not do what it was supposed to and there's got to be another means," Commissioner Charles Furmon said in blunt terms. We're in complete agreement, commissioner. We hope the EPA is listening.

Thumbs up to Joni Snively, an 18-year aide at Seven Mile Elementary School in the Edgewood City School District, for rescuing fourth-grader Ryan Hannon on Feb. 25. Hannon was choking on food during lunch that day, which required Snively to apply the Heimlich maneuver to the 10-year-old. Fortunately, she was successful and a more serious situation was avoided.

We have to add our disappointment to that already expressed by city of Hamilton officials over the dispersal of $30 million in federal stimulus funds for area transportation projects. The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments has decided that Hamilton will get none of the funds which, of course, are intended to jump-start the economy. Hamilton submitted three "shovel-ready" projects, including $3 million for much-needed street resurfacing, but all three were passed over by OKI in favor of other projects in the area. We're hopeful that the Ohio Department of Transportation will look on Hamilton's proposed projects more favorably when it decides how to distribute other stimulus funding.