Thumbs up to Jeanne and Bill Porter's Holter Museum donation, which finally was unveiled to the public last Friday.

The Porters began collecting ceramic pots, plates and jars 50 years ago, and their 85-piece collection includes items from most of the top artists who have worked at the Archie Bray over the years.

Thumbs up and welcome back to the Race to the Sky sled dog race. The 20th running will once again begin in Rimini, with a restart in Lincoln. Camp Rimini was the site of military sled dog training during World War II, and that history will be honored by the first leg of the race from Rimini over the Continental Divide to Deer Lodge.

Thumbs up to Cascade County Sheriff David Castle, who said this week he plans to pay Lewis and Clark County the full $18,500 it asked for to cover costs associated with the capture of an inmate who escaped from a prison van Jan. 11. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Cheryl Leidle had said she'd be willing to negotiate, but "I don't want them to be burdened with anything," Castle said.

Thumbs down to the results of a study that found most college students nearing a diploma are unable to handle many complex but common tasks, such as understanding credit card offers or comparing the cost per ounce of food. The worst news of all? More than 50 percent of soon-to-graduate students at four-year schools and more than 75 percent at two-year colleges lacked the skill to understand the arguments of newspaper editorials.