The winners and the losers

• Winner: The Disney Channel movie "High School Musical," which was filmed at East High School, was nominated for six Emmys this week. Beyond the nominations, the movie has become a hands-down winner in terms of viewership and sales of movie soundtracks and a novelization. Better yet, the story line reinforces an important character lesson, that it's OK to buck peer pressure to pursue one's dreams.

• Loser: A Salt Lake County man faces two counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals after placing his wife's dog in a 200-degree oven for two minutes. The dog suffered burns and had to have its eye removed from a previous injury sustained when he was chased and cornered by the same man who was using a leaf blower. It is unconscionable that anyone would abuse a dog in this fashion. This incident likely will stir the interests of animal activists, who have tried, unsuccessfully, to make animal cruelty a felony under Utah law.

• Winner: Instead of wielding a club for noncompliance to the state's tobacco sales laws, the Bear River Health Department is recognizing stores that have not sold tobacco products to underage buyers for more than five years. Compliance checks are conducted four times a year and area stores posted a 92 percent compliance rate overall. That's good news for stores that can face sanctions for illegal sales and for the health of teens, who have been cut off from illegal tobacco products by virtue of the law, compliance of store employees and good employee training programs.