Thumbs up to all of the students, teachers and staff who participated in community activities for Maine Catholic Schools Week, which began Saturday and runs through this week. To kick it off, children at St. James School in Biddeford baked cookies and distributed the treats to local businesses, nonprofits and other organizations ”“ including the Journal Tribune. In addition to enjoying the cookies, local workers and residents are pleased to see these young people out in the community and are thankful for the praise.

Throughout the week, students at both St. James and St. Thomas School in Sanford have events planned to show their appreciation to the community and get involved in service projects. St. Thomas students are hosting a food drive all week, and they plan to visit a local nursing home to meet with residents.

Thumbs up to the Biddeford Hannaford for partnering with ShuttleBus-ZOOM to help its customers get to the store for free. Riders who purchases $10 or more of groceries at the Biddeford Hannaford can receive two tokens for the ShuttleBus public transit service ”“ one for the ride home, and one to come back to Hannaford, said store manager Barrett Johnson. And at $1.25 per trip, that adds up quickly. Elderly residents often use the buses to do errands, and the savings will help those on fixed incomes. The bus route was also changed this fall to bring riders right to the Hannaford entrance, meaning those riders would not have to brave the elements or cold temperatures in winter for extended walks from the previous stop. We’re pleased to see Hannaford stepping up to help its customers and make life a little easier for those who use the bus to do their grocery shopping.

Thumbs up to the all star clogging team from Northern Explosion Dance and Fitness in Sanford. The team got the chance to audition for the hit show “America’s Got Talent” in New York City Friday. And, they weren’t just there for the open call, they were invited. Producers of the show were looking for more cloggers ”“ particularly New England-style cloggers ”“ whose routines are different from southern cloggers, according to studio owner Heather Torno Roux, and she got the invitation via email just a week before the audition. It’s great to see some local talent getting recognition, and we hope they make it through to represent southern Maine on the show.

Thumbs down to all the delays that have pushed back the trial for Mark Strong Sr. Strong has been implicated in the alleged prostitution business being run out of a Kennebunk Zumba studio, and was supposed to be on trial this week to face 59 misdemeanor counts including conspiring with Alexis Wright, the dance studio’s owner, who has been indicted for engaging in prostitution, invasion of privacy and some tax-related charges. However, 46 counts of invasion of privacy were dismissed last week. A flurry of appeals have halted the trial, and potential jurors sat idle for nearly a week while judges considered whether choosing jurors should be open to the public. Now it appears the trial will not start until mid-month, and we hope once it gets going, the trial will proceed in a timely manner.

Thumbs up to York County Commissioners and the York County Budget Committee for meeting and discussing their differences. We’re pleased to see, after all of the issues between the two groups, that members of each have agreed to move forward and work on improving communications and relations. We hope they keep the good momentum going and continue meeting and discussing their roles and responsibilities as well as the county budget. Working together is likely to lead to better solutions for the county’s municipalities and residents.

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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 email at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or by dropping your letter off at our Biddeford office.