Thumbs up/down: Congratulations to Maria Garcia-Cunningham, executive director of Northeastern Community Development Corp., who will be moving back to New Mexico this spring to where she grew up. Garcia- Cunningham, 43, came to the nonprofit NCDC 12 years ago. She led the expansion of a one-room child care center to two child care facilities serving 250 children today. She’s also led the effort to help residents find affordable housing, and offering services to Hispanics after seeing a growing need. She and her husband and 20-month-old baby will be moving closer to New Mexico to be with family. We wish her well, and note her hard work and inspiration will be missed.

Thumbs up: Kudos to officials at Elizabeth City State University for the school’s recent annual audit that for the first time in years includes no deficiencies in financial reporting. The State Auditor’s Office concluded the university provided accurate year-end financial statements for fiscal year 2010-11 and demonstrated sound internal controls over financial reporting. Last year, a deficiency was cited by State Auditor Beth A. Wood, who found employees had access to financial information that exceeded their job requirements. That deficiency has since been corrected. “I’m proud for the university to receive this clean audit,” said ECSU Chancellor Willie J. Gilchrist.

Thumbs up: Kudos to Camden County and newly renamed business Academi for starting out on the right foot. County commissioners met with Ted Wright, CEO of Academi, who invited them on a tour of the facility. The company started out as Blackwater USA in 1997 to train and protect government workers in war zones around the globe, and in 2009 changed its name to Xe. In December, new owners changed the name to Academi and replaced all top officials. “We changed all the management and we put a lot more focus on governance and compliance,” Wright said. Academi is hoping to double the amount of business it does in Camden in the next year.

Thumbs up/thumbs down: Thumbs up to Pasquotank County Commissioners for recognizing that blacks are under-represented on the board. Although blacks make up about 40 percent of the countywide population, there is only one African-American, Cecil Perry, on the seven-member body. The commissioners are considering changing voter districts, including a plan offered by the county chapter of the NAACP known as 4-2-1. The plan would have one super district include the territory now made up of the county’s two “inside” districts while the other would be composed of what are now two “outside” districts. The board currently has three at-large districts. Blacks would make up slightly more than half the population of one of the two super districts and continue to be a significant majority in the Southern Inside district. The shift would give blacks a better chance at getting elected. We applaud the commissioners for considering the changes, and would urge them to move forward.

Thumbs up: Held earlier this month, the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Elizabeth City was deemed a success. It was one year since the First Friday Art Walk kicked off. With milder than usual winter temps, galleries and business from Road to Water streets celebrated the anniversary with art, music and a festive atmosphere.

Thumbs up/thumbs down: Thumbs up to city and state officials for finally closing the books on the decade-long Hugh Cale Neighborhood Revitalization Strategies Grant. The five-year grant stretched out 10 years instead of five, because of mistakes and mismanagement early after the grant was received. But City Manager Rich Olson helped straighten out the grant so that the city was able to spend most of the $1.75 million on housing rehabilitation work and construction of the Hugh Cale Community Resource Center, as well as housing counseling acquisition and the acquisition and clearance of five substandard homes. “Although the grant was challenging to administer, it was successful in addressing many issues of the Hugh Cale neighborhood,” Olson said.

Thumbs up: Thumbs up to motorists who have been patient with the months-long downtown detours as the city’s utilities relocation work draws to a close. While eastbound motorists on the Camden Causeway bridge will continue to be using a westbound lane for the next two years, two areas downtown are nearing completion — finishing the placement of concrete at the intersection of Colonial Avenue and Poindexter Street, and finishing the final part of Colonial Avenue in front of City Hall. We are confident the patience will pay off.