Thumbs up, down from the Yuma Sun

• Thumbs up to spring break. Yuma County students and teachers alike are celebrating this much-needed break in the school year before the final push through to the end of the year! Enjoy the break, everyone!

• Thumbs up to the Yuma East Wetlands, which recently took home the Arizona Forward Environmental Excellence Award for Natural Environmental Preservation. The award recognizes the cooperative efforts underway to rehabilitate that area. Longtime Yumans remember what it was “then” vs what it is now, and the transformation is truly stunning. Congratulations to everyone involved in the effort – especially the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area!

• Thumbs up to the much-needed facelift coming to the Kennedy Skate Park. The Yuma City Council recently awarded a $2.9 million contract to begin the project, which includes a new skate plaza with urban skating opportunities, a skating bowl and a pump track. It’s expected to be completed by the end of December. It’s long overdue, and a great amenity for Yuma’s youth and young adults!

• Thumbs up to the new partnership between Yuma Regional Medical Center and Yuma Elementary School District One. Third-year YRMC residents will meet with classes at two schools, supporting teachings and students in science, health, AVID and career exploration classes.

There will also be a mobile medical unit to provide supervised medical services for families in the north end of Yuma. It’s a great program – and we are excited to see the impact it will have for Yuma’s youth and doctors alike!

• Thumbs down to the untimely spike in the price of cocoa and sugar. The Associated Press notes the costs are being passed on to consumers and then some, which is really a bummer as Easter draws near.

• Thumbs down to the downtown Yuma fire on Wednesday that decimated the historic Southern Pacific Freight Depot. It was in a state of disrepair, but it was still a visually interesting historic property – and we hate to see it gone.

• Thumbs down to reports that dairy cow milk in Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu. According to the Associated Press, the commercial milk supply is safe, and the livestock will recover. However, the news comes a week after goats in Minnesota were diagnosed with the virus – the first known time bird flu was found in U.S. livestock.

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.

Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.