Thumbs up to the new Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at NorthEast Medical Center — another institution that seems bound for great things in 2007. The unit offers an advanced level of care, the kind people used to have to go to Charlotte to find. No more.

Thumbs down to talk that’s already surfacing about undoing one tax cut that went into effect last month — the half-cent that was shaved off the state sales tax. As lawmakers head back to Raleigh later this month, they’re reported to be having second thoughts. If that happened, the so-called “temporary tax” would become pretty permanent.

Thumbs up to the increase in the state minimum wage that went into effect Jan. 1, from $5.15 per hour to $6.15. You’d have a hard time surviving on minimum wage — less than $13,000 a year. If you know kids who are considering dropping out of high school, remind them of that.