There always seems to be some things we are cheerful about, and then there are things that we are not happy about at all. That goes for all the Cheering and Jeering that often pops up in this column.

Let’s start with something to be Cheered.

The Blue Earth City Council showed support for a plan to increase bike routes around the city, and that deserves a Cheer. Blue Earth already has quite a few bike routes (or biking/walking trails) around the town. What the Blue Earth Active Living Coalition wants to do is connect those trails with some city streets to make bike loops around town.

Some loops would be longer than others. Some loops would have extensions to go out to other parts of the city. In all, there would be 12 to 15 miles of bike routes in the city.

The Active Living Coalition (ALC) was not asking for any new trails or bike paths, just the designation of current streets to be a part of the already existing trails. And some signage to show where these bike routes are.

The council agreed, and Blue Earth is well on its way to being a biking destination. In fact, it may someday be designated an official Bike Friendly Community.

Now that we Cheered them, here is a Jeer to both the City Council and Blue Earth Area School Board.

It once looked as though the two were going to be able to move forward on a cooperative plan for new tennis courts. It would be a joint venture that would top a million dollars.

However, the plan has seemed to have gotten bogged down into a question of who is paying how much of the project. In fact, it almost appears to be at a standstill.

We hope that this plan can still be resurrected and agreed upon.

Yes, it is a lot of money. No doubt about it. But the current courts are in real bad shape. In fact, there are cracks between the courts that you could almost lose a ball in. Or twist an ankle. Go take a look for yourselves, and you will see that something needs to be done, even if it just fixing the current ones.

Now we will send another Cheer to the City Council to cheer them up. Fixing up Third Ward Park and then having young school kids come up with a new name for the park was a great idea and deserves a Cheer.

Go check out Piano Park sometime and see for yourself. It has really had a facelift done and become a nice city park.

A Cheer goes out to all of those who helped out Craig and Karen Christians when their Blue Earth home was severely damaged in a fire. Especially to those who gave them a home to live in, brought food and clothes and helped in so many other ways, including making funding donations.

We love doing these stories which show why it is wonderful living in a small town that cares.

A Cheer goes out to the Bass Lake Clean Water Coalition for working hard on trying to save Bass Lake from turning green and eventually becoming a dead lake.

Faribault County is not blessed with a lot of lakes like much of Minnesota, so it is important to save the few we have. We wish the coalition the best of luck in coming up with a solution.

A Jeer to the fact that Winnebago is down to just one police officer. But a Cheer to the City Council there that is trying to do what it can to continue to have law enforcement officers in the town. Many police departments are having this same issue, especially those in small towns.

We hope a solution can be found.

Finding enough workers in both the private and public workforce is an ongoing problem. Thankfully there are entities such as the Faribault County EDA trying to help. They recently held a Job Fair to try to find employees for area businesses. A Cheer to them for trying to help.

Another Jeer goes out to the fact that the Winnebago Council has learned the Winnebago Pool needs upgrading, to the tune of over $4 million. The council is looking at other less expensive alternatives. That is worth a Cheer, because the Winnebago Pool has been an integral part of summer activities in the town for many years.

Speaking of summer activities, a Cheer goes out to the County Board for spending some funds for making improvements to the county parks.

Recreational facilities such as pools, tennis courts, parks and bike trails, are important entities for local residents and for visitors to Faribault County. We are glad to see others agree and are willing to invest in them.