Thumbs up to the launch Friday of the CTrail Hartford Line that now links Springfield, Massachusetts, to New Haven where riders can switch and travel through Fairfield County and on to Grand Central Station in Manhattan. The $768 million project, in the works for about15 years, is the first new commuter rail line in the state in decades. The line is hoped to be a boon for economic development while relieving some of the congestion on state highways. On the first weekend, during which fares were free, 21,850 riders tried the line.

Thumbs up to Elmer Palma of Danbury for trying to help victims of a destructive volcano explosion in his home country of Guatemala. More than 100 people have died, about 200 are missing, and many houses destroyed in the June 3 eruption of Mount Fuego. Palma, a City Council member and local business owner, is hoping to raise $100,000 for the rebuilding of homes. He is setting up a GoFundMe page and organizing a breakfast and lunch event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 23 at the Ecuadorian Civic Center on West Street in Danbury.

Thumbs down to the U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday that will lead to voter suppression. The court sided 5-4 to affirm the Ohio rule that allows election officials to remove voters’ registration if they haven’t voted in a federal election cycle, which is two years. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Ohio residents have been stripped of their right to vote. For the good of democracy, government should be trying to encourage more people to vote not discourage them.

Thumbs up to Connecticut, and New York, on the U.S. District Court decision Wednesday that orders the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce smog from Midwestern states that is carried by prevailing winds to pollute the Northeast. The EPA will have to uphold the Good Neighbor Provision of the federal Clean Air Act for ozone standards and make states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio reduce their emissions. We will all breathe a bit easier once that happens.

Thumbs down to the shrinking number of donors who provide life-saving blood to the American Red Cross, about 80,000 fewer annually for the last four years. The agency is responding with a clever effort this month — eliminating the letters A, B and O from brands, social media and websites. The Missing Types campaign is intended to draw attention to the need for new donors and for those who haven’t donated in a while to do so. More than 13,000 blood donations a day are needed for patients at the approximately 2,600 hospitals in this country.

Thumbs up to the scores of volunteers and executives who’ve worked all year to put the 2018 Travelers Championship golf tournament together for this week in Cromwell. Tournament play begins Thursday at the TPC River Highlands course. And it’s a stellar field the tournament has enticed, including Brooks Koepka, who this weekend won his second consecutive U.S. Open championship, and defending Travelers champion, Jordan Spieth.