having a "noteworthy" button done by the mods.
(I realize there are many "top ten" categories, but I feel some good posts never make those lists.)

Rather than a POTD, thumbs up etc... you could we have a mods only button that tagged a post as "noteworthy"? Users could then do a search for "noteworthy" icons if we don't have time to read everything and just want to skim the board.

Plusses...
people might spend more time making good posts (if you know a lot of people will see it... you'll take more time)
guys like Bama, Krindor, Indy etc who take time to do real research and post data will get more recognition for their efforts
fewer reposts of the same story
better informed fan base

Downsides..
it could be that many infrequent users stop reading the general page and only read the "noteworthy" posts (probably could be counteracted by making the seeing the "noteworthy" icons a premium feature?)

Good and bad...
it allows mods the ability to skew the narrative a bit on CB. Posts they highlight will get more eyeballs.

(I'd also be interested in a "best of CB" weekly/month/yearly post section)