OUR VIEW: Week in review: the best, worst

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OUR VIEW

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CHEERS to the gentleness that accompanied the expected blizzard last week. Don’t get us wrong — we’re all for a good snowfall. But early forecasts that predicted the storm was going to be severe didn’t prove true, and all we got was a few inches of snow to add to our seasonal total. We know that snow isn’t doing much to ease the drought, but we figure that every inch counts, and we’ll be hoping for a damp March and April as our region’s farmers begin to put seeds in the ground.

CHEERS to the Mitchell High ECOS Club, which helped MHS get recognized as South Dakota’s top recycler in a recent statewide contest.

For four weeks, students recycled and weighed all sorts of waste — such as newspapers, glass and plastics — and the total came to about 3.6 pounds per student.

That was the highest per-person amount collected in the state and helped MHS earn a $1,000 award and certificate.

We don’t all recycle, but we should consider it. These kids learned some valuable life lessons, which hopefully will translate into a better world down the road.

HISSES to news that this year’s influenza vaccination isn’t doing a great job of protecting America’s older people. The Associated Press reported last week that the shot was proving just 9 percent effective in people 65 and older against the harsh strain of influenza that is making the rounds this season.

The results probably are showing why so many older people have been hospitalized this year, the report noted.

CHEERS to the Mitchell High School mascot. The school, whose mascot is the Kernels, has been nominated as a state finalist in a contest to find the best school mascot. State finalists can advance to a national contest.

Other schools in South Dakota to be named finalists are the Sturgis Scoopers, Sioux Valley Cossacks, Rapid City Central Cobblers and Newell Irrigators. To us, only the Scoopers and possibly the Irrigators are even close to the Kernels. This is a fun contest, and our biased opinion is that Mitchell should win it hands-down.

CHEERS to the interest in wrestling that has emerged lately, following the announcement that the sport may be removed from the Olympics.

Just last week, The Associated Press reported that Iran and the United States have even come together to make pleas on behalf of the sport. We are outraged that wrestling may be ousted. It’s great to see that others are, too.

Tags: opinion, updates, editorials