Thumbs up to Mayor Don Hillman for being upfront about  his battle with liver cancer.

Hillman sat down with the Tribune last week to discuss his illness. He answered every question we asked and provided information that citizens have a right to know about the man at the helm of city government. The Tribune respected his privacy but also felt the public had a right to know some facts, and Hillman agreed.

The mayor learned of his cancer diagnosis and has taken pro-active measures to deal with it, seeing doctors in Denver and at the famed Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. During these months of treatment, he has missed only one City Council meeting and has, for the most part, kept office hours.

Hillman said the illness has not seriously impacted his ability to serve the city, and we agree that he appears to be performing his duties well despite the health battle. We admire his determination to take the best shot at defeating cancer and join with the entire community in wishing him well.

Thumbs up to a pair of Park County Sheriff’s Office employees who played a key role in saving a woman’s life aboard an airplane last week.

Park County Sheriff’s Office Communications Supervisor Monte McClain and Sheriff’s Communications Officer Charla Baugher teamed with three other people to revive an elderly woman who had stopped breathing and had no pulse while aboard a plane flying from Reno, Nev., to Salt Lake City on Friday. McClain, an emergency medical technician for Powell Hospital EMS in addition to his work for the sheriff’s office, worked with a doctor and teacher from Reno plus an EMT from the East Coast to keep the woman alive.

Lisa Baker, an administrative assistant and dispatcher for the Powell Police Department, witnessed the recovery efforts and said she “sat there in awe.” We share that sentiment.

McClain said he doesn’t know the name of the woman he helped revive, but she was alert enough when they landed to thank him as she was taken off the flight.

Thumbs up to a report that there are fewer vehicle-deer collisions in Wyoming.

In fact, Wyoming drivers are nearly 13 percent less likely to collide with a deer in the next 12 months than they were last year, according to new claims data from State Farm. The odds drivers will hit a deer in Wyoming in the coming year are 1 out of 110, compared to the national odds of 1 in 169.

Using its claims data and state licensed driver counts from the Federal Highway Administration, State Farm calculates the chances of any single American motorist striking a deer over the next 12 months state by state.

You’re most likely to hit a deer at the end of the year, with November, December and October, in that order, being the most likely months. Deer, who often move in groups, are most active at dusk and dawn but they are unpredictable. So be on alert.

The Insurance Information Institute and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety offers these tips to avoid slamming into a deer: Use extra caution in known deer zones. Always wear your seat belt. At night, when there is no oncoming traffic, use high beams.

Avoid swerving when you see a deer. Scan the road for deer and other danger signs. Do not rely on devices such as deer whistles.

Thumbs up to a double dose of culture opening in Powell today (Thursday).

“The Humble Life,” an exhibition of large still-life paintings by Billings, Mont., artist Dana Zier, opens at 7 p.m. at Plaza Diane. Zier’s showing includes work based on the lives of women in the region over the years. It’s a welcome celebration of the “feminine spirit” and offers her take on the Western women who played and continue to play such a crucial role here.

“I want the viewer to discover a sense of perfection in the imperfect and humble: A sense of sacred respect for the small, cherished object,” Zier said.

The show will be on display through Friday, Nov. 21.

Also opening today is “Terror in the Theater: Fifties Fears,” a traveling exhibit from the University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center that will be on display at the Homesteader Museum through Nov. 26. It’s a time for scares and spooks, and this exhibit offers a glimpse of the 1950s, when Cold War fears and reports of flying saucers were symbolized through a series of science-fiction films.

From giant ants to monstrous aliens, the sci-fi flicks of the ’50s were often campy but could also be insightful and compelling. This exhibit will display poster and photos from those movies.

A reception is set for 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday. You can view the exhibit and also watch a pair of 1950s “classic” sci-fi films: “Them!” and “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.”

In the meantime, keep watching the skies!