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So, Oak Ridge Elementary School wasn't really sick. Just a little queasy, perhaps.

Or maybe a hypochondriac?

After years of complaints of persistent illnesses associated with the school, which led to its temporary closing this fall, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says its investigation will not yield any significant findings. Guilford County Schools will develop a plan for reopening the facility and returning its students and teachers from alternative locations. Meanwhile, a thorough scrub-down is under way. The entire episode has cost a fortune.

While most members of the Oak Ridge community will be happy to put these events in the past, some may worry that problems will resume. Hopefully, healthy attitudes will prevail. Extraordinary efforts have been made to detect and correct problems. Now it's time to get this school off the sick list.

Museum coin gathers steam

A Greensboro outdoorsman, Eddie Bridges, came to the News & Record only a few weeks ago with an idea to create a commemorative coin.

No sooner had his proposal reached the printed page last week than it found its way to the halls of Congress. Sen. Kay R. Hagan and Rep. Brad Miller, both Democrats, say they will introduce legislation to commemorate Greensboro's International Civil Rights Center and Museum, which will officially open on the 50th anniversary of the Woolworth sit-ins next Feb. 1.

Republican Rep. Howard Coble also supports the idea, but Miller will sponsor the House bill because it is located in his district, the 13th.

The bill is titled the "International Civil Rights Center and Museum Commemorative Coin Act." It calls for the minting of 1,000 $1 coins to celebrate both the legacy of the sit-ins, which sparked a national movement, and the museum's opening. (Bridges had suggested a 50-cent piece; inflation already?)

All of this just goes to prove that people know a good idea when they see one. And the voice of even one citizen can make a difference.

Bicycling honors? For us?

The news last week that auto-addicted Greensboro is among cities honored for its friendliness to bicyclists was greeted with disbelief, if not outright ridicule, by some folks.

But it was no joke.

The League of American Bicyclists has designated the city a bronze-level "Bicycle Friendly Community" for the steps it has taken to increase bike safety.

And somebody who ought to know agrees.

UNCG professor Mark Schulz, a cycling advocate who was nearly killed while riding his bike last year when he was struck by a texting motorist, said Greensboro has made significant strides.

"Greensboro is getting better, definitely," he said on Sept. 30, weeks before the award was announced. "In some ways, I would say that Greensboro is better than suburban Orange County."

Schulz added: "In fact, the only city I would say is better (in North Carolina) is Carrboro."

Greensboro won the award on the basis of its greenway plans, bike safety Web site, expanded bike lanes and other initiatives.

There's still room, certainly, for improvement, but it hardly sounds like a fluke to us.