Thumbs up to Sanford Police Officers Mike “Tipper” Thornton and Mike Gordon for running the Junior Police Academy for Sanford students. The opportunity to understand police work and the challenges that law enforcement officers face, is priceless for any of us, but particularly for youth.

The program seems to have already inspired several young people to pursue criminal justice degrees, but all the participants will, at the very least, have much more respect for police officers when they’re done.

Thumbs down to the Biddeford City Council for failing to make a decision on the management of the Wastewater Treatment Plant before the contract cancellation deadline. The council has been mulling whether or not to have Public Works take over operation of the plant, rather than the private firm that was hired a few years ago. Since they couldn’t make up their minds, the issue is moot now and the contract stands for at least another year ”“ not by the choice of the council, but by default.

Thumbs up to Dorothy Suzi Osher and her family for making the biggest contribution that Southern Maine Medical Center has ever seen, $1.4 million. The cardiopulmonary gymnasium that the money has allowed the hospital to build will surely benefit many patients in their rehabilitation efforts.

Thumbs up to Thea Murphy, who has stepped down as director of the Sanford Downtown Legacy revitalization group. Her 18 months of dedication saw the group through to a Maine Community Foundation Main Street Maine designation. Now she is stepping down to focus on her full time job at the Trafton Senior Center, but will continue to be involved as a volunteer with Legacy. People like Murphy are the “doers” in our communities and she should be commended for getting the ball rolling on such a noble effort.

Thumbs up to the selectmen of Wells, who approved fundraising efforts of the Wells Professional Firefighters union. Though communication with the police department needs to be improved for traffic control reasons, there is no reason to keep these firefighters from doing good deeds for their community and worthy causes. As Selectman Richard Clark said, the firefighers will respond to any emergency calls whether they are working a fundraiser or not.

Thumbs down to the situation at St. Louis Field in Biddeford, which was heavily damaged by trucks and foot traffic during the rainy La Kermesse festival. If the fields have been damaged in the past, the festival board should have made sure that their insurance was changed to cover field damages in case the problem arose again. It was clear from the beginning of the festival, as vendor trucks pushed up mud around their tires, that the field was taking a beating.

The situation is difficult because while the city should not have to pay for damages inflicted by a private organization, the bill would be a big hit for the festival, which is a point of pride for the city. It would be a shame to see lack of foresight endanger this bright point of Franco-American pride. Some have suggested that the festival be moved to a paved location, which might not be a bad idea for the future.

Thumbnails is a Monday feature of the Journal Tribune’s opinion pages. If you would like to respond, please write the Reader’s Forum via e-mail at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or by dropping your letter off at our Biddeford or Sanford offices.