Thumbs up to local ‘angels’

Here are this week’s “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” selections:

Offering a "thumbs up" just isn't enough to the churches and 300 volunteers who worked over four days in late April/early May to completely remodel the homes of two widows in Middletown. This is the second time that Berachah Baptist Church has used its "Hands and Feet" ministry to help out neighbors in need, and Faith United Church, New Covenant Church, Breiel Boulevard Church of God and Middletown City Hall joined the effort, extensively fixing up the homes of Norma Jean Miller at 705 14th Ave. and Olveie Whaley at 806 15th Ave. "They are God's angels for real," said family member Cynthia Gamble. We couldn't have said it better. Bravo.

Thumbs up

to the eight Butler County police agencies that participated in “National Drug Take Back Day” last Saturday and collected hundreds of pounds of expired or unused prescription or over-the-counter drugs from county residents — in an effort to curb the number of unintentional drug overdoses and to keep unused drugs from falling into the wrong hands. Middletown police collected 135 pounds of unwanted drugs — no questions asked — from participants. Thumbs up to the people who responsibly cleaned out their medicine cabinets and to the organizer of the event, the Butler County Coalition for Healthy, Safe and Drug-Free Communities.

Thumbs up and congratulations to Middletown's Atrium Medical Center for being ranked seventh among all 34 hospitals in Greater Cincinnati by U.S. News & World Report recently. Atrium excels in the areas of gynecology, neurology and neurosurgery, and pulmonology, according to the magazine. This report confirms what we already knew about our excellent hospital.

Thumbs up and good luck to Dennis Newell, who revealed this week that he will be leaving Middletown High School where he's been principal for the past 20 years. Newell told his staff that he'll be taking the principal's job at another high school but, as of this writing, hasn't revealed where that will be. We're counting on Superintendent Greg Rasmussen to find the right replacement for Newell at MHS. It's a challenging job and it will take a special educator to take his place.