CHEERS: to registered nurses Tess Dumas and Phil Dabiew for quickly and professionally applying their skills when called upon last week to deliver a baby after a young mother went into labor in the visitors' room at Franklin Correctional Facility in Malone. It took more than 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive to take the woman to the hospital, but the baby wouldn't wait for a ride. He wanted out, so Dumas stepped in to help with the birth, assisted by Dabiew. Congratulations to the new parents and the medical staff, which came through under extremely unusual circumstances to become the only tandem in many decades to deliver a visitor's baby in a state prison. It's heartwarming to see people from different walks of life and different backgrounds come together to further the cause of a human being in need -- even in a prison. When the account of that incident appeared on Page A1 of Tuesday's Press-Republican, we're betting it was the best-read story of the day.

CHEERS: to Stanley Ransom, the retired head of the Clinton-Essex Franklin Library System and now director of the Plattsburgh Public Library for some creative and responsive administration. Locally renowned as a musician and affectionately called "the Connecticut Peddler," he has instituted a practice that's going to be music to the ears of some city residents. Ransom's idea was to include copies of the library's quarterly newsletter in residents' utility bills. That's an inspired notion, because it not only circulates news of the comings and goings at the library to the people who need to know about them, it does so at no cost, because the postage is already being paid by the Municipal Lighting Department. It's important that city residents know what's going on at their library because it's a resource that many fail to avail themselves of. If they knew what they were missing, they might be more inclined to drop in and take advantage of that service or others. Ransom took over as library director last Nov. 6, but he is already instituting useful measures.

CHEERS: to the Horace Nye Nursing Home in Elizabethtown, the Essex County-owned and -run service provider, for quick and efficient response to a virus that was fatal to three residents whose immunity was not strong enough to withstand it. The home immediately instituted measures that would isolate the virus. Visitations were limited to immediate families, and no new admissions were accepted. All people entering the home were issued a mask and obliged to wash their hands. Doors were locked, and signs were posted to warn of the disease inside. The State Health Department commended the home for taking sure and appropriate steps to contain the virus, and it has subsided. Such crises are always possible anyplace people with weakened immune systems live, but Horace Nye should be commended for keeping the damage minimal.