The following deserve either a thumbs up or thumbs down:
THUMBS UP: Sacred Heart Parish School this week found a way to get its students excited about doing good deeds. The school gave each kid a bracelet inscribed with “pay it forward.” Students were then instructed to hold on to the bracelets until they do something nice for someone else, who would then receive the bracelet, along with instructions to do the same in order to keep the progression of good deeds going. School Athletic Director Terri Canez deserves credit for broaching the idea after she watched the 2000 movie “Pay it Forward.” She noted to Free Lance reporter Alice Joy for Friday’s story how she hopes the rest of the community picks up on the trend. We concur with Canez because it could only serve to make San Benito County a better place – and it might also help to calm any local road-ragers who would otherwise flip out and scream out their windows for no good reason.
THUMBS DOWN: It seemed that nobody wanted to take credit for the new airport layout plan presented this week – obviously, that’s never a good sign. When the Hollister City Council considered the draft Monday, three members of the airport advisory commission in attendance said they didn’t recognize the document they just sent on to council members. Their comments came after several unhappy citizens blasted the draft. Surprising many, including us, is that the California Department of Forestry and Fire’s base was left off the plan, and it also didn’t include glider facilities. The most important question is, why did the plan change after the airport commission’s recommendation went through? Something doesn’t sound right there. The point of the advisory commission is to advise, and staff has no business making any changes, let alone drastic ones, to the document shipped over to council members from their advisory panel.
THUMBS UP: Justice was served in the disheartening case of Rachael Menchaca, the Hollister mother whose 9-month-old girl died after ingesting a methadone pill left laying around the house. Methadone is used to treat drug addiction. She was convicted in October of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment for Isabella Menchaca’s death. A judge this week sentenced her to four years in prison, two years less than the maximum, while she’ll be eligible for parole in eight months because of time served. Rachael Menchaca deserves to spend time incarcerated, while she’ll undoubtedly continue to suffer from this mistake, imprisoned or not, for the rest of her life.
