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Updated 2:34 PM Friday, November 20, 2009

Here are this week’s  “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” selections:

Thumbs up and congratulations to Middies quarterback Caleb Watkins, who was chosen as the Southwest District Division I offensive player of the year, and to Middies coach Jason Krause, who was named the division’s co-coach of the year (alongside Springfield coach Rick Robertson). We also applaud the entire team — which finished with a 10-2 season — for providing Middletown sports fans with an exciting season that ended all too soon.

Congratulations also go out to Trenton police veteran Lt. Tim Traud, who was promoted to chief of the Trenton Police Department this week. Traud is no stranger to the position, having served as interim chief in two previous stints. After Carl Ray resigned the job unexpectedly earlier this year, Traud was promoted to take the top spot on a permanent basis. He’s been with the department since 1981 and has served under several chiefs of police. We wish him the best of luck in his (almost) new role.

Thumbs up to Middletown city and police officials for trying something new in the war against illegal drugs in our community by creating the “Drug Market Intervention” program. Police have identified the Eighth Avenue area as an open market for illicit drug trade and — in an attempt to curb the drug trafficking there — are trying an unusual approach: Offering assistance to four “low-level” dealers in order to convince them to go straight. “The idea is to craft a plan to help each of these kids — if they’re strong enough — get away from the peer pressure and easy money,” community revitalization director Doug Adkins said. Police also filed cocaine-trafficking charges against five individuals who have more extensive criminal records, as part of the effort to clean up Eighth Avenue. We don’t know if the intervention will succeed for the four young men, but we hope that it does — and we commend city officials for trying the new approach.

We’re also extremely pleased to see that the statue of Armco Steel founder George M. Verity, a monumental figure in Middletown’s history, has been restored and relocated to Miami University Middletown’s campus — fittingly enough, in front of MUM’s Verity Lodge. The statue, which stood in front of Armco/AK Steel offices on Curtis Street for 60 years, wasn’t part of the 2007 move of AK Steel’s corporate headquarters to West Chester Twp. Moving the statue to MUM was appropriate, according to university officials, because the branch campus is built on land that had once been part of the Verity estate. We’re glad to see him on the University Boulevard hill, looking over Middletown again.

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