Cheers, jeers for the week of Feb. 12-18, 2012

Cheers to the Bee Liners of the 21st Airlift Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, who are celebrating the squadron’s 70th anniversary.

The celebration, which began Friday, includes presentations on the squadron’s history, tours of its aircraft, a golf tournament and a formal banquet.

Here’s a squadron that’s served with distinction through World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Cold War, and the current war on terror, which has seen a decade of action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Along the way, the squadron supported countless humanitarian missions around the globe.

We offer congratulations, and thanks, to Bee Liners past and present for their service.

Jeers for news this week that the housing slump in Solano County continues.

On the up side of the report, the number of home sales is increasing, up 13.4 percent over a year ago and the most since January 2009. On the down side, prices continued a 15-month slide amid a small overall inventory.

Solano County was hit especially hard by the housing bubble’s burst and the Great Recession. The overall Bay Area was also hit hard, but many of the region’s nine counties are bouncing back faster than we are. In fact, the median price of homes sold here in January was the lowest in the region — more than 30 percent below the median price of homes in the next-lowest county, Contra Costa.

Cheers to efforts by Fairfield resident Darla Davenport-Powell to turn a labor of love into a must-have toy for children.

Davenport-Powell created her ethnic Niya doll after she discovered some three decades ago that there were no ethnic books or toys that she could buy for her new daughter, Niya. That realization led to a children’s book, and then in 1991 the creation of the first Niya ethnic doll.

The doll saw a brief period of production, but that tapered off. The concept saw new life in 2006 and the addition of five other dolls of different ethnic backgrounds to keep Niya company. An e-book is set to launch next month.

Now, Davenport-Powell’s creation is in a competition with other would-be top-sellers for space on the shelves of Walmart. The online contest begins March 7.

Let’s give our Fairfield friend a boost. Go to http://www.getontheshelf.com/product/1544/The-Niya-Doll and cast your vote once the contest begins.