Our View: Thumbs up, thumbs down

Thumbs up to the thousands of firefighters working day and night to battle the fires raging through California. Risking injury and death, more than 11,000 firefighters from 41 states are fighting the blazes, mostly caused by lightning. More than 400 square miles have burned from the Central Coast to the Oregon border, including in neighboring Butte County. Local firefighters, including personnel from the Yuba City and Linda fire departments and the Sutter County Office of Emergency Services, are on fire scenes demonstrating their skills and dedication. To all those on the front lines we say: thank you and be safe.

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Thumbs up to Yuba County Sheriff's Department for initiating a program that may prevent crime from occurring. Borrowing a good idea from Contra Costa County, the department has launched "If I Were a Thief," designed to alert drivers to the potential dangers of leaving doors unlocked, windows down or valuable items clearly visible inside their cars. For the second time this month, deputies and sheriff's department senior volunteers last week descended on a store parking lot in Linda armed with fliers reminding drivers to secure their vehicles. To drive the message home, they checked vehicles and spoke with drivers about what they found.

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Thumbs down to adults who supply alcohol to teens. According to a new federal study released last week, more than half of American teens say they've consumed alcohol, and more than 40 percent of those children say they sometimes get their alcohol free from an adult. Among the country's estimated 10.8 million underage drinkers, more than 40 percent said they got alcohol free from an adult during the past month. One in four said they got the alcohol from an unrelated adult, one in 16 got it from a parent or guardian, and one in 12 got the alcohol from a family member, according to the survey. "In far too many instances, parents directly enable their children's underage drinking — in essence encouraging them to risk their health and well-being," Acting Surgeon General Dr. Steven K. Galson said. Parents and adults have a responsibility to provide teens with guidance, not gin or Goldschläger.

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Thumbs up and good luck to new small-business owners in Marysville who are trying to turn their dreams into reality. While city officials wring their hands over the respective big-time fates of Hotel Marysville and State Theater, there's an encouraging surge of economic activity downtown as entrepreneurs set up shops and go about their business. As Don Blaser, head of the Marysville Business Improvement District, said in an article last week: "There's more coming in than going out." Among the newcomers: a pet shop, a bridal gallery, a Thai restaurant and a children's art gallery. We salute these intrepid entrepreneurs and encourage people to patronize them.

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Thumbs up to the Yuba-Sutter Golf Sox outreach to local youth, even if it comes at a price. About 55 baseball players between the ages of 7 and 12 took the field at All Seasons RV Stadium threes days last week to learn skills and values from Gold Sox athletes and coaches. The kids practiced batting, fielding balls, making double plays, catching fly balls, throwing, stealing — and then they played baseball. Another camp is scheduled July 28-30. The cost to participate is $100, but it's money well spent.