Thumbs up to York County Commissioners for hiring four new deputies who will join the York County Sheriff’s Office after layoffs left the rural patrol division stretched to provide coverage to the 14 towns it patrols last year.

Commissioners also agreed last week to approve hiring five new corrections staff at York County Jail. Although there are still vacancies in both departments, the county is on the right track to restoring positions and getting residents back to work.

Thumbs up to the Biddeford City Council for giving initial approval last week on an option agreement with Developers Collaborative of Portland to convert the Emery School into affordable housing for seniors. The development company plans to construct 24 rental housing units in the former elementary school, which has been vacant since 2007. Developers Collaborative has agreed to purchase Emery School for $360,000 ”“ needed revenue for the city. Biddeford will also see a savings by no longer paying to heat and keep up the building while offering affordable housing to the city’s seniors.

Thumbs down to Regional School Unit 21 for moving forward with sending up to 19 Arundel students to Middle School of the Kennebunks this fall, and for opening up the issue at all. The district plans to buy out the contract with Thornton Academy Middle School next year at a cost of $1.12 million, citing significant savings if students choose schools within the district. By moving forward with this process, now the district will have to pay tuition to TAMS ”“ at a total cost of about $315,000 if all 19 students attend MSK for their entire middle school careers. If the district waited until the buyout, the districtwide confusion and legal expenses would not have been incurred to decide whether or not the students could attend MSK.

Thumbs up to the Town of Dayton for utilizing federal funds to install solar panels on its municipal building. The town received about $73,700 through Efficiency Maine for the panels. It has to contribute about $8,200 toward the project. According to Town Treasurer Angela Cushman, last year the town used about 24,600 kilowatt hours of electricity for the municipal building, at a cost of about $3,600, and the panels are expected to produce 21,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. This relatively small investment should pay for itself in a few years and hopefully will help the town lessen its carbon footprint.

Thumbs up to the residents, young people and the Town of Old Orchard Beach for moving forward with plans for a new skateboard park. A meeting was held recently to discuss designs and ideas for the new skateboard and bicycle park. Old Orchard Beach resident Eric Santos, 17, attended the meeting and has created a Facebook page to share information from the meetings with the public. It is nice to see members of all ages from a community working together to support youth and allow them spaces to do activities like biking and skateboarding safely.