Thumbs up to the students of the Bonny Eagle High School Robotics Team, who are working to create a robot that plays basketball. This group of young people has been hard at work for many months creating their robot and working through the kinks at Tooling, Engineering and Machining, Inc. in Buxton. Their hard work culminates this weekend at the annual Granite State Regional FIRST Robotics Competition hosted by For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

We wish the team success at the competition and thank their corporate sponsors ”“ Fairchild Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, and Tooling, Engineering and Machining, Inc. ”“ for investing in and supporting young people’s innovative ideas. The team’s advisors, Ted Goulet and Scott Tracy, should also be commended for their support.

Thumbs up to all those who assisted in the rescue of two fishermen last week off the coast near Kennebunkport, but especially to crew members of the fishing vessel Cameran Lee, who responded to the Coast Guard call for help. The two fishermen from Rockland began to flood about nine miles off the coast last week and Cameran Lee’s crew was able to safely transfer them from the 81-foot boat to their vessel. The crew’s quick actions helped ensure the other men’s safety and helped keep the situation from getting even more dangerous.

Thumbs up to the Sanford Town Council for repealing an emergency moratorium on the location of methadone clinics last week. The moratorium prevented Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. from moving forward on its plan to build a new clinic at 61 Eagle Drive at Sanford Industrial Estates in south Sanford. The council enacted the moratorium after some industrial park businesses became concerned when they learned the company was planning on locating in the park. We’re pleased to see the council has reversed this decision and will allow this business to locate in Sanford, as methadone clinics help people who are battling drug abuse problems and addictions.

Thumbs up to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, for taking the time to visit Biddeford’s revitalized Pepperell Mill Campus. The property, owned by Doug Sanford, has been renovated and is doing well now that new tenants have moved in, but more work needs to be done. Amy Steenstra, with Hyperlite Mountain Gear, a manufacturer of ultralight backpacking gear located in Pepperell Mill, told Collins that her company is having a hard time finding skilled workers to produce equipment and asked whether there were federal resources to match skilled workers with jobs. The area also needs more parking ”“ and a parking garage would be a good solution. We hope Collins follows through on her commitment to look into federal funding and programs to assist the area in further developing the mills. These mills have the potential to host hundreds of future jobs if companies will locate there.

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Thumbnails is a Monday feature of the Journal Tribune’s opinion pages. If you want to respond, feel free to write to the Readers’ Forum via email at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or by dropping your letter off at our Biddeford or Sanford offices.