Thumbs up: To John "Doc" Ovitz, whom the Sycamore Rotary Club honored this week for his lifetime of service to the club and community by giving him the Rotary Foundation District Service Award. Rotary Club members complimented the 99-year-old retired physician for his philanthropy with community causes such as Sycamore’s log cabin project and Pumpkin Festival. In addition to the Sycamore Rotary, he was a member of the Sycamore Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the local school board. The Rotary Club also designated its award for Rotarian of the Year as the John W. Ovitz Rotarian of the Year award. Such recognition seems beyond appropriate for his contributions, and we tip our hats to him as well.

Thumbs down: To our "boy who cried wolf" federal government. We've endured years of inaction, months of talk about the fiscal cliff, sequestration and the possibility of a government shutdown. Enough is enough. Everyone in this mess needs to stop campaigning, get off the talk show circuit and get real work done. The United States is a great country being turned into a laughingstock by a government so collectively inept it defies explanation.

Thumbs up: To 12-year-old Matthew Rogers who correctly spelled "megalopolis" to win the DeKalb County Spelling Bee last Saturday at Kishwaukee College. This year's competition included 21 third- through eighth-grade students from DeKalb County schools and lasted 14 grueling rounds. Matthew, a seventh-grader at Sycamore Middle School, will travel to Washington D.C. for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. Way to go Matthew. Good luck in D.C.