Thumbs up to progress on a plan to stop the growing plumes of arsenic in the groundwater around East Helena. The EPA and ASARCO are making plans to install a 1,350-foot wall of bentonite and clay to box in the source of the pollution at the mothballed smelter.

Thumbs down to the all-too human urge to toss rocks down a mountain. A Wyoming prosecutor decided last week against filing charges against a man, recently returned from service in Iraq, who did just that, unintentionally killing a man climbing below. It may be fun to watch a rock bounce away down a mountainside, but because you seldom can see if anybody is down there, let's not do it anymore.

Thumbs up to good news from the state Labor Department. The agency's annual Labor Day update shows low unemployment, rapid wage growth, and an economy that's chugging along as well as any state in the nation.

Thumbs down to whoever is calling big stores across the country this week - perhaps including the K-Mart in Havre - making bomb threats and demanding money. Officials said several stores actually wired thousands of dollars to an overseas account, although no bombs have been found.