THUMBS UP - To the unknown donor, who sometime in the past gave two Ming-dynasty chairs to St. Matthias Anglican Church. The chairs will be auctioned by Sotheby's in New York on Sept. 11 and could bring in as much as $250,000, an answer to prayers for the impoverished parish.
THUMBS UP - To Callum Davison, 12, of Duncan, for capturing the sa国际传媒 bantam golf championship at the Merritt Golf and Country Club this week.
THUMBS UP - To Canadian astronaut Julie Payette, for offering outof-this-world perspectives of Earth during her presentation Monday at the University of Victoria.
THUMBS DOWN - To sa国际传媒's legislators, for allowing the long-standing practice of hiring legislature clerks as highly paid consultants after they have retired. Since 1973, at least three clerks were kept on as consultants after retirement. George MacMinn, the latest to retire, got a two-year consultant gig that came with a fee of $480,000, yet has done little in the way of consulting. MLAs should ensure this is the last one.
THUMBS UP - To Michael Drescher of Saanich, for catching a purse-snatcher on Cook Street Thursday and holding him until police arrived. The Victoria Police Department presented him with the department's first Civic Service Award.
