—Mikey mogul: Michael "Mikey" Wren, 10, is an inspiration as well as a businessman and author. The founder of "Mikey's Munchies," a four-vending machine operation at Northview Elementary in the Jennings School District, Mikey wrote a book about a magic briefcase that teaches young entrepreneurs about networking and business plans.

When a friend told San Diego businessman A.J. MacQuarrie, who founded a healthy-food vending business while in college, about the youngster, MacQuarrie wanted to meet Mikey. He did that last Saturday, when he visited St. Louis and was the keynote speaker at the Young Biz Kidz awards lunch at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

He gave Mikey a healthy Karmabox machine and said he would help him choose a location and learn to operate it. Mikey's mother, Ariel Biggs, founded Young Biz Kidz after recognizing her son's business interest. She told the Post-Dispatch's Jacob Barker that parents have plenty of choices for kids interested in sports or acting but not in entrepreneurship. Way to go, Mom.

—'Smart home' for a cop in need: Cheers to the Gary Sinise Foundation for stepping out of its normal veterans-centric aid mode to recognize the need to help police officers wounded in action. A new "smart home" is now ready for Ballwin officer Michael Flamion to occupy. He was left paralyzed from the neck down last year after being shot during a traffic stop.

The new house is phenomenal. Voice command features will allow Flamion to turn on lights and the television with ease. IPad control features allow him to see who's at the front door and open the door with a simple tap on an icon. The idea is to give him as much independence as possible, which is what anyone would want in his or her own home.

—No Nobel welcome mat: No doubt it is humbling to stand next to America's Nobel Prize winners in physics, chemistry, economics and physiology. Perhaps too humbling for President Donald Trump, the first U.S. president since Bill Clinton to not invite the honorees to the White House.

Celebrating the achievements and thanking the august group for their discoveries is a tradition that presidents usually seem to enjoy. And why not, since it allows America to put its best and brightest front and center. But apparently not for Trump, who has diminished science in his administration by such actions as canceling the White House Science Fair, failing to appoint a science adviser, misrepresenting climate science and supporting the debunked link between childhood vaccinations and autism.

The only good note in this is that at least one Nobel winner, biophysicist Joachim Frank, said he was "relieved" that he wouldn't have to visit with the president.

—Dead elephants don't suit GOP after all: Three years ago, the Obama administration banned the importation of trophies taken from elephants legally killed by big-game hunters in the African nations of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Trump administration decided last week to reverse that policy. Then President Trump decided to reverse his reversal. Assuming he doesn't re-reverse himself, his final stand against elephant slaughter is a very good thing.

Elephants are endangered across the world, but some nations do a better job of policing hunters than others. Trump initially rationalized the move as a pro-gun, pro-hunter gesture. But the blowback apparently was fierce, even from staunch conservatives and pro-gun, pro-hunting types. Maybe it was the cruelty of it all. Or maybe it was the fear that the imagery of slaughtered elephants would come back to haunt a GOP whose mascot is, well, an elephant. Either way, Trump got the message. And for now, America's policy is exactly where it should be.

—Unzipped in Wildwood: As thrill-seekers ourselves, we are pained by Monday's decision by the Wildwood Planning and Zoning Commission to deny a request by the Hidden Valley Ski Resort to operate a year-round zip line course. The neighbors' objections to year-round noise and disruption is understandable.

Peak Resorts, which owns Hidden Valley and 10 other facilities around the country, has been hit hard by global warming. The man-made snow keeps melting, and it's hard to make a buck. So why not spend $2.5 million to string four high-tension cables 170 feet in the air and extend the resort's draw?

The zoning commission was OK with a modified zip-line course open between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. April through October. But Peak CEO Tim Boyd says the restrictions would amount to a "death certificate" for Hidden Valley. It already has a golf course and was considering adding disc golf and mountain biking trails. Now, unless the city council overrules the zoning commission, area skiers, tubers and snow-boarders are nearing the end of the run.

—Zimbabwe's dictator-free new look: Ever since the colony formerly known as Rhodesia won its independence from Britain and became Zimbabwe in 1980, the nation has really known only one leader. Robert Mugabe started out a Marxist hero liberator. But as his power and popularity grew, Mugabe grew more dictatorial, declaring himself president-for-life.

He employed brutal tactics to keep dissidents in line. Corruption became endemic. Mugabe's wife, Grace, 41 years his junior, was infamous for her lavish spending while Zimbabweans starved. The nation that once cherished the name Mugabe came to despise it as the president and his wife refused to yield power. On Tuesday, Mugabe's kingdom finally came crashing down. Military coup leaders forced the 93-year-old dictator to resign. Perhaps now Zimbabweans will opt for true democracy instead of letting yet another dictator fill the leadership void.

REPRINTED FROM THE ST LOUIS POST DISPATCH