Thumbs up, down from the Yuma Sun

• Thumbs up to the Baymont Inn and Suites and Penny’s Diner, which recently installed special parking spaces for wounded veterans.

• Thumbs up to Arizona Western College, which recently opened an office on the Yuma High School campus. The move will allow students to meet face to face with college officials, and help them as they need college information.

• Thumbs up to actor Will Smith, who celebrated his 50th birthday this week by bungee jumping from a helicopter over a gorge near the Grand Canyon.

• Thumbs up to the deputies of the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, who delivered 158 backpacks of snacks and nutritional food to students at Dateland and Mohawk Valley Elementary Schools.

• Thumbs up to the U.S. judge who ordered federal protections be restored for grizzly bears in the Northern Rocky Mountains, the Associated Press reports. The judge questioned whether or not federal officials “adequately considered threats to the species’ long-term recovery.” That’s a question that is important to answer before hunts move forward.

• Thumbs up to The Conners, a local classic rock band that won the recent Battle of the Bands contest at the Historic Yuma Theatre!

• Thumbs down to the campaign attack ads airing on television. The election is still weeks away, and frankly, we’re already tired of hearing these ads.

• Thumbs down to the news that Yuma County’s jobless rate is back up to 22 percent. Yikes. On the upside, more jobs are coming to Yuma County with AQST Space Systems Group, which will help those numbers improve.

• Thumbs down to whoever is leaving door hangers around the city of Yuma that claim to be with the city, but are in fact fraudulent. If you see these individuals out putting notices on homes, give the Yuma Police Department a call at 928-783-4421.

Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down are compiled by the Yuma Sun editorial board, based on recent events, happenings and activities around Yuma County and the nation, and will appear on Fridays in the Yuma Sun.