Cheers: To the Butler County Jail project finally getting underway. For years, the county has operated a dungeon of a jail on N. Conecuh St. The conditions have been inhumane at times, so we're glad bids have been accepted by the commission and meet budget requirements. The new jail will cost $4.5 million and the county will use an estimated $500,000 in court costs annually to help pay the jail debt.

We are, however, concerned about the comments made by Sheriff Kenny Harden. Harden stated this week that the re-designed concept of the jail would not allow for sufficient lockdown of the facility. In other words, the inmates will have greater control over the environment.

We hope the commission and sheriff will work together to find a solution to this issue.

Jeers: To Don Imus for his racially insensitive remarks about the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team. While Imus has made a living the last three decades with his razor wit and bathroom humor, it was clear that his comments last week about the Lady Knights crossed the line. On the other handŠ

Jeers: To NBC and CBS for pulling the plug on Imus. Network executives at NBC decided on Wednesday not to simulcast Imus' show on its satellite channel MSNBC and on Thursday CBS bowed to pressure - both internal and external - and cancelled the talk show host's contract. This incident could be the kindling for outside lobbyists to have other &#8220controversial” talk shows - such as that of Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, or Rush Limbaugh - yanked from the airwaves. If it was done to a liberal like Imus, who is to say where it may end?

Frankly, the entire episode smacks of a double standard, especially with Rev. Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson leading the charge to oust Imus. Both Sharpton and Jackson have made outrageous remarks about other races in the past.

Cheers: To the late Sarah Tatum Smith, a Greenville native, whose generosity towards the orphans of a South Carolina school in the 1930s and 40s will always be remembered with the naming of a building in her honor. York Place, an Episcopal Church home and residential treatment facility for children in York, S.C., will name one of its new buildings the &#8220Sarah Tatum Smith Dining and Assembly Hall.” Mrs. Smith died in 1994, but her legacy of kindness will live on.

Cheers: To the Greenville-Butler County Library's annual book sale this weekend. This book sale is a great way for readers of all ages to pick up inexpensive books. The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hardbacks go for $1 and paperbacks for 50 cents. The discovery of stories through books is still one of best ways to spark your imagination, even in today's visual culture of video games, movies and television.