Thumbs Up/Down - August 10, 2012

Talk about it

A primary duty

Thumbs Up: We give an advance “thumbs up” to all those who take a few minutes to vote in next Tuesday’s primary. Residents in Douglas County Commissioner Districts 2, 3 and 4 will whittle a list of candidates down to two in each of their districts. Other decisions may not be as pressing because many partisan candidates won’t face anyone from within their party on the ballot. But there are two non-partisan Supreme Court positions to vote on and a few other decisions to make, depending on your political party. Think of the primary as a warm-up to the general election this November. It’s a chance to get familiar with the system and to make sure you’re registered and know where to vote. Remember, with a primary election for partisan races, you can’t “cross over” and vote for a DFL candidate in one race and an Independence candidate in another. Polls in most Douglas County locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Do your civic duty and vote.

Irritating drivers – again

Thumbs Down: Bad drivers continue to catch the ire of local residents. An Alexandria woman e-mailed her frustrations: “Just for the record, yield signs, stop signs, red lights, etc., do not mean ‘step on the gas.’ It seems I cannot even get from home to work anymore without someone blowing through a four-way intersection or red light where I am waiting to go. And yield signs? Forget it. Maybe one person out of 30 ever lets oncoming traffic go at Nokomis and Highway 29. Does anyone even look at signs anymore or know what they mean? The rest of us would appreciate if the offenders had a little common courtesy toward other drivers. No wonder there are road rage incidents.”

Not seeing eye-to-eye

Thumbs Down: An Eagle Bend woman had a negative experience at a local eye clinic. She took her nephew to an appointment and also brought along her 10-month-old daughter. A full waiting room pushed her appointment back about an hour and a half. Her daughter started getting a little fussy when they finally got into the room and were waiting for the actual exam. A doctor came in and asked her to take her daughter out of the office. “While I was outside, a med rep came out and said he was appalled at the way I was treated,” the woman said. “He said he could tell that the doctor was irritated with my daughter. I just want him to know – babies cry, especially after sitting for that long.”

A much-appreciated lift

Thumbs Up: A Rainbow Rider customer had kind words for the transportation service. On the Fourth of July, she attended the fireworks show at Arrowwood Resort with her young daughter. Rainbow Rider provided shuttle service. “When the show was over, Marcelo was very kind and stopped to let us on, being it was quite congested and looked as though we would be waiting for quite some time to get back to our vehicle,” the woman said. “We were very impressed with his kindness and all of the service that Rainbow Rider provided.”

Hard work for new sculpture

Thumbs Up: A lot of people had a hand in bringing the new public art sculpture, The Gathering Tree, to Alexandria’s Big Ole Central Park. Karin Tank deserves a special mention. Members of the Alexandria Arts Advisory and Cultural Inclusiveness Committee were quick to credit Tank when she sent an e-mail to committee members, thanking everyone for making the project become a reality. One member e-mailed Tank back: “You are the one who deserves the big pat on the back for a job well done. You are our strong foundation in this community: from gathering us together, writing the grant, securing funding, fielding questions and investigating bids. Then there have been countless hours dealing with all entities to coordinate this whole process. Both you and Bill [Thoennes, park director] have made this an exciting and rewarding process. The grounds and tree look amazing.” Other thumbs up go to Innovative Builders for donating the foundation and Mark Lee for the excavating work.

Tags: opinion, editorials