A healthy and hearty cheer to the Appropriations Committee for sustaining the purpose of the Fund for a Healthy Maine by protecting its funding from a spending raid.

Funded through Maine’s share of the Tobacco Settlement Fund, the money is used for education and support for smokers and quitters, and the prevention of smoking. The money is also used to promote healthy eating and fitness habits, and to advise businesses and community groups on awareness programs to improve Mainers’ health.

Becky Smith, chief policy officer for the Maine Public Health Association, said “healthy families are the key to a healthy economy.”

She’s right. And she’s also right in saying, “When people are healthy, children do better in school, workers are more productive and businesses can add jobs because their health care costs are lower.”

Appropriations did the right thing for Maine in preserving this healthy funding.

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Cheers to Falcon Performance Footwear, for investing in Maine.

The Lewiston company will spend $100,000 for custom equipment to make toecaps for its specialty boots, which is great news. Even better news is that the company is doing this so it can bring that work back from China, creating manufacturing jobs here.

Company President Carl Spang said the move is part of Falcon’s plan to source everything domestically, bucking the trend to outsource parts to cheaper labor overseas.

Falcon’s claim is that the world’s best boots are made in Maine.

When the toecap line is up and running, Falcon will be able to proclaim that “more” of the world’s best boots are made in Maine.

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Cheers to the Maine Department of Transportation, and good riddance to the potholes and pocked pavement that is Center Street.

MDOT will begin milling the pavement Sunday night in preparation for repaving some 3.5 miles between Lake Auburn and the Androscoggin County Courthouse. The work is long overdue and, once done, motorists won’t have to choose between traveling in the smoother, inside lanes or enduring jostling down the broken and heaving outside lanes.

Fortunately, MDOT has scheduled much of the lane closures at night so commuters and consumers won’t be hindered during the day, but it’s going to be disruptive work.

While this is predicted to be the biggest traffic- slowing project of the summer in L-A, the wait will be enormously worthwhile.

As it is, Center Street is a mess.

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The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.