Thumbs up to the Rev. Wayne Eppeheimer of the Jamestown Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, who is retiring at the end of September after 39 years in ministry. Eppeheimer has spent 30 of those years pastoring in Jamestown. While the Third Street church will carry several large projects completed during Eppeheimer’s tenure as pastor, the true mark he leaves is born by the members of the congregation he has led so faithfully for so long. Luckily for Jamestown, the pastor and his wife, Joan, will remain in the Jamestown community after his retirement. A retirement open house will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. today at Hillcrest Baptist Church.

Thumbs down to a court motion that strikes at the heart of the First Amendment. Earlier this week, Nathaniel Barone, county public defender, made a motion for a mistrial in a rape case being heard in Chautauqua County Court based on media coverage the case has received. As the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has written, juror exposure to news accounts of a crime, the Supreme Court has held, does not by itself deprive a defendant of due process rights. We are glad to report that the motion was denied by Judge David Foley. In the long run, the ability to cover criminal cases provides an important service to the public to see that courtrooms are fair to both the accused and to alleged victims.

Thumbs up to Frank Walker, a longtime Falconer area resident and farmer. Walker was a star athlete at Falconer High School before taking over his father’s farm full-time in 1954. He and his wife, Mary, raised five children and saw their family grow to include 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, all while Walker maintained memberships in the Grange, Western New York Crop Management Association, Chautauqua Company Holstein Association and Chautauqua County Farm Bureau. Walker stayed busy long past the time when many people retire, continuing to work his farm until an accident at the age of 91 cost Walker his right arm. Now 94, Walker still lives in his home with the support of his family and two part-time helpers. Walker told The Post-Journal’s Carly Gould that he was lucky to be alive after the accident. That may be true, but it is also true that the Falconer area continues to be lucky that Walker continues to serve as an example of how we can all create a better community.