Thumbs up to the quiet heroism of Bill White.

White, a Powell-area resident for 65 years, died Friday at the age of 99. He was a farmer, a familiar face in our community and a proud patriot.

White was also a survivor of the inhumane Bataan Death March during World War II. He spent more than three years as a prisoner of war and emerged with a skeletal frame that never really did fill out, a deep well of horror he witnessed and endured and the ability to overcome all of that.

White was, like so many heroes, a humble person who shared his story to explain the past, not to seek adulation or attention. We join with the Powell community in saluting him.

We’ll miss you, Bill.

Thumbs down to Charles Cloud’s reference to Adolf Hitler when discussing early childhood education programs during a House District 50 candidate forum in Powell.

Cloud was questioning Rep. David Northrup’s support for funding pre-kindergarten education for infants and toddlers.

Education for children ages zero to 3 “should scare people,” Cloud said last week. “Because I remember Hitler was the one that said ‘Give me a child until he’s 3 and he’ll be mine forever’ and I, sir, want to educate my own child from zero to 3. I do not want to the state to do it.”

If Cloud better understood the facts about a successful publicly funded early childhood education program right here in Park County, then he would know that parents are an integral part of the process.

Park County School District No. 1 funds a Pre-Kindergarten Transition Program that offers classes for infants, toddlers and kids through age 5.

Parents or guardians must attend the classes with children.

“Parents are just a big a part of their child’s education as the teacher or the schools,” said Holly Howell, the pre-kindergarten transition liaison for the Powell school district, in a recent article about the program. “I’m modeling the skills to the parents and the kids, and then that way the parents know what skills they can continue to work on at home with the kids.”

It’s insulting to imply that the state’s early childhood education efforts have anything to do with what Hitler said or believed.

We are proud of the early education efforts going on here in Powell. In addition to the school district’s pre-K program, early education opportunities are available to local parents through the Children’s Resource Center, the Children’s Learning and Care Center at Northwest College and many quality private preschools around Park County.

We also commend Park County School District No. 1 for investing in early childhood education, as those years are integral in preparing a child for kindergarten and the years to follow.

We encourage Mr. Cloud to spend more time learning about what the programs actually offer to families in Park County.

Thumbs down to the person who flew a drone over Yellowstone National Park and saw it drop into a hot spring.

Drones have been recently prohibited in national parks and monuments, but that didn’t stop an unnamed visitor from flying one over the Grand Prismatic Spring. The colorful hot spring is the third-largest such pool in the world.

While we can understand the attraction and the desire to capture images of it, the drone’s demise in the hot springs, and the uncertain nature of the damage that could be caused, show why such a rule is in place.

Thumbs down to the death of the brilliant Robin Williams.

For nearly 40 years, he made the world laugh with his lightning-fast mind and elastic face and voice. But his death Monday, by suicide, turned the laughter into sadness and tears.

Thanks for the good times, Robin. We’re deeply sorry for your sad ones.