UP: Southeastern Wisconsin finally welcomeswinter! it was a long time coming, but we finally got our firstmajor snowstorm Thursday. For skiers and snowman builders it was aday to celebrate. For shovelers, mail carriers, crossing guardattendants, utility repair people and bus drivers — well, maybe notso much. Golfers will finally have to tuck their clubs away in acloset for several weeks, but they can revel in the warmth of theirstories about playing in the second week of January. ManyWisconsinites were happy at the delay in frigid weather, but knewthat it was only a matter of time before the greenery gave way to awhite overcoat. Except for next Tuesday when the temperatures areexpected to rise into the 30s, chilly January temperatures andintermittent snow is likely for most of the weekend and next week.Hopefully that will put us in a more wintery mood for the delayedBig Chill snow sculpting festival which was postponed until Jan.20-22. This weekend’s Downtown Carves its Niche Ice CarvingCompetition featuring a dozen regional and local ice carvers, isstill on for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monument Square.It’s ice, it’s nice and it’s about time.

DOWN: “There oughta be a law …” is a familiarlament for those who are dismayed by someone’s actions or what theysee as an impropriety. On the other end of the spectrum, though,are stupid laws or laws that are enforced in a stupid manner. Suchwas the case with the Federal Aviation Administration in Alabamarecently when they grounded one of those bird-like planes thatserve as surrogates for cranes and guide juvenile whooping cranesto their wintering grounds in Florida. The FAA regulations say onlypilots with commercial licenses can fly for hire and theultra-light pilots were being paid for by a conservation group, butwas only licensed to fly sport planes. that wouldn’t even makesense if the cranes were passengers on board the ultra-light. Nodoubt stung by the publicity of this bird-plane decision, the FAArelented this week with a one-time waiver and the young cranes areonce again flying friendly skies headed for Florida. The airlineregulator also said it would work with Operation Migration to“develop a more comprehensive, long-term solution.” like lettingthem do it? We can only hope.

UP: Another oft-maligned government airenforcer, the Transportation Security Administration, has beencatching all kinds of heat for confiscating a frosted cupcake lastmonth as a Boston woman was returning home from Las Vegas. Thiscupcake was a specialty one — a small jar filled with cake, aganache center, frosting and chocolate sprinkles. TSA agents tookthe cupcake-in-a-jar saying it violated TSA regulations on liquidsand gels. The kicker, of course, is that the cupcake was part of apair that had originally made the outbound flight to Vegas withoutincident — and a TSA agent reportedly told the woman they lookeddelicious. which only goes to prove you can’t have it both ways. Sowhich is it, TSA? We suppose that, if we’ve seen shoe bombs, that acupcake in a jar could look a little suspicious. The only winnerhere so far is the Massachusetts bakery that makes thecupcakes-in-a-jar. it has seen its mail order business double andnow calls the treats “National (Security) Velvet” cupcakes.

UP: Murder is down. That’s a trend thatdeserves a thumbs up any time, and in 2010 it fell off the U.S.list of the top 15 causes of death for the first time since 1965.it was replaced in the 15th spot by pneumonitis — which is seenmainly in people older than 75 and happens when food goes down thewindpipe and causes damage to the lungs. The falloff in homicidesis not new — the murder rate has been declining for the past fiveyears, but the reasons given are worth noting: some of it is due tothe demographic changes as younger people make up a smaller portionof the population and they are most prone to commit or fall victimto murder; and some of it is due to fewer murders involving abusiverelationships because of increased incarcerations, better policework and public health programs aimed at reducing violence.

Friday Finishers: Winter’s finally here