THUMBS UP to the Waterville City Council for approving unanimously a resolution to explore the benefits of bringing passenger rail service back to the city.

The resolution, similar to one passed by Augusta councilors late last year, is one small step in the effort to return rail service to the region, a process that will include many steps and take years, if not decades, to complete. The line would first have to be extended from Portland to the Lewiston-Auburn area before continuing north through Augusta and Waterville, and possibly along to Montreal eventually.

The road may be long, but the economic and environmental benefit could be enormous. Rail service would take cars off the road, cutting down on carbon emissions as well as wear and tear on the roads. As Brunswick and other areas have shown, rail service can spur significant business development, particularly around stations.

A number of bills are before the Legislature now that could help make expanded passenger rail service a reality, including a promising idea that would allow communities along a rail line to work together to capture taxes created by rail development in order to maximize economic returns.

Those bills should get support this year, but it also is important that the communities along the projected rail line, including Augusta and Waterville, strongly state their interest in developing the service.

THUMBS DOWN to recent reports underscoring the futility and perhaps danger in relying on dietary supplements.

First came an investigation by the New York State attorney general’s office that found four out of five herbal supplements sold under store brands by major retailers GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart contained mostly cheap fillers, and not the herbal products advertised on the label. Pills sold by Walmart as the Chinese herb ginko biloba, for instance, contained powdered radish, houseplants and wheat, despite claims that it was wheat- and gluten-free.

Then, this week comes a study showing many weight-loss and workout supplements contain BMPEA, a chemical similar to amphetamine that Canadian health authorities call “a serious health risk.”

These supplements, part of a $33 billion-a-year industry, are only lightly regulated. The Food and Drug Administration has little power over dietary supplements, and has been criticized as too lenient in areas where it does have control.

Congress should give the FDA more power to regulate what is in supplements and how they are advertised.

In the meantime, these reports prove that there is no replacement for a well-balanced diet, and that there is no such thing as a magic pill.