Thumbs up to the impressive turnout and strong signs of interest in the crowdfunding effort being launched in Powell.

Two days of workshops were held last week and a launch party was held at The Commons at Pond Park on Thursday. Around 80 people came, and not just for the good music, free food and beer, either.

They were there to collect more information on the proposal to bring more dollars to local nonprofits and private enterprises.

“It’s a new spin on an old idea, a little more familiar than you realize,” Powell Economic Partnership Executive Director Christine Bekes said.

A consultant compared crowdfunding to a modern-day barn-raising. People working together can accomplish a great many things, including helping boost the local economy.

Positive Progressions, a mental health agency, is the first such effort in Powell. It had raised $523 from 18 donors as of Monday.

Thumbs down to the sad spike in highway fatalities on Wyoming’s roads.

There have been 114 fatal crashes on our highways and roads this year so far, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol; at the same point last year, 65 people had died in traffic crashes. We hailed the good news about the reduction in fatal crashes in 2013, but it looks like we spoke too soon.

It seems absurd that people are making a challenging assignment like piloting a heavy vehicle made of metal and glass down a road at a high rate of speed any more difficult than it already is, but of course, they do.

As long as that happens, we will continue to report and write about the people killed and injured on our roads. We just wish we didn’t have to do so quite as often.

Thumbs up to the courage and strength of Larry and Gloria Hedderman.

The Powell couple survived an ordeal in Big Horn Lake last weekend, in large part because they made smart choices and chose not to give up hope. Both engines on their boat failed, and the boat foundered and later capsized in high water caused by a strong windstorm.

But they stayed cool, even when separated for several hours, fearing the worst about each other, and worked hard to emerge from the trouble they had fallen into.

Never surrender, it’s said, and the Heddermans did not. They survived instead.

Thumbs up to University of Wyoming President Dick McGinity and UW faculty members for coming to Powell Friday.

McGinity told the Powell Tribune in January he would be here this year for a visit and an interview and his word was good. He’s coming along as part of an annual tour of a section of Wyoming that the university conducts.

The UW leader and staffers will stop by Powell High School, Northwest College, the UW research farm and Gluten Free Oats. They will also have lunch and dinner with local residents and leaders.

We’re a long way from the University of Wyoming in miles but close to it in spirit and heart. We’re glad to see “our” university sending its representatives here and in the area to learn more about this corner of the state.

Thumbs up to the Powell City Council for moving its meetings to 6 p.m. — and here’s a nudge for more of you to attend.

The council has shifted its meeting time ahead one hour. The first such meeting is Monday night. Usually, in recent years, there are few citizens at the meeting.

We urge people to take advantage of this earlier start and come to the meetings. Speak up or sit back and listen and learn.

It’s your city and your government. Take part.