Cheers, jeers for the week of March 3-9, 2013

Cheers to the official opening Friday of the new Eaton DC Quick Charge station for electric vehicles at the Bella Vista park-and-ride lot in Vacaville.

The new charger is a vast improvement to older chargers at the site, which can take several hours to recharge a vehicle’s batteries compared to about 30 minutes with the latest technology.

End result: It’s now more convenient for drivers of electric vehicles to make the journey between Sacramento and the Bay Area – something that was a daunting task before when forced to use the older chargers.

Here’s the best part: Taxpayers will not foot the bill for the electricity used by drivers who stop at the Vacaville site to charge their vehicle’s batteries. The charge is free to drivers as well. That’s because the juice is generated by solar panels at the site.

If you’re going to go green, this is how to make it work without saddling others with the costs.

And it’s happening right here in Solano County, in “Voltageville,” err, Vacaville.

Cheers to news this week that California Shock Trauma Air Rescue transported its 50,000th patient in the company’s 28-year history.

CalSTAR is a vital link in Solano County’s emergency medical services network, along with local law enforcement, area firefighters and Medic Ambulance, which provides ground ambulance services across the county, with the exception of Vacaville.

Cheers as well that the medical air ambulance company, a nonprofit that operates locally from a base at Nut Tree Airport in Vacaville, is adding to its fleet with eight new Eurocopter EC135 helicopters.

Jeers that so many people are injured to such an extent that these types of trauma transport capabilities are so often necessary. We’re fortunate, though, to have them available in times of need.

Cheers to inmates at California State Prison Solano for their work with the Prisoner’s Outreach Program, which offers one-on-one counseling of at-risk children and teens during field trips behind the prison’s walls.

Aside from the its softened “scared-straight” approach, the program allows prison inmates to buy a variety of specialty foods that are not typically available to prisoners. Proceeds are distributed three times a year to various community programs and organizations – donations that total thousands of dollars.

There are strict requirements for inmate participation in the Prisoner’s Outreach Program, which is appropriate given that these sometimes hardened criminals are interacting directly with children and teens.

Programs such as this show that redemption of a sort is available to anyone, when they choose to do the right thing and to do it on a consistent basis.