Cleaning out the in box...

Cheers to Francis Dumont, a Bethel area builder and developer, who provided a balanced, level-headed account of a fist-fight at a local diner between another developer and the town code inspection officer.

Developer Rick Savage was allegedly punched in the face by code enforcement officer Robert Folsom last Thursday after an argument at the Crossroads Diner and Deli on Route 2.

"Bob's a good guy and (the Savage brothers) are my competition," Dumont told the Sun Journal. "But in this case I've got to tell you what I saw ...", which he proceeded to do.

By speaking out, Dumont provided an important public service. Often, in high-profile cases like this, police and other witnesses are afraid to talk.

In the absence of solid information, rumors run wild. Dumont was a credible witness whose account of the clash dispelled some of the assumptions that were already in circulation — namely that Savage was more responsible than Folsom for the attack.

Dumont's candor was refreshing

Jeers to two area auctioneers who were disciplined Tuesday by the state for failing to live up to their contracts with clients. If there was a habitual offender status for auctioneers, James D. Cyr of Gray would have it. The State of Maine has imposed sanctions against him in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. His auctioneer's license was revoked by the state last year.

Auctioneer Thomas Madsen of Windham had his license revoked by the state and was fined $37,000. He testified that he lent his license to the unlicensed Cyr who continued to run auctions last year.

That, to us, seems like lending a driver's license to a dangerous driver who has had his license yanked by the state. It's obviously fraud and deserving of punishment.

Meanwhile, the state advises anyone thinking about hiring an auctioneer to check that person's license status by calling 207-624-8603 or visiting www.maine.gov/professionallicensing.

Cheers to Eric Agren, who seems to be creating his own restaurant district on Lisbon Street in Lewiston.

If past performance is any indication (and it probably is), Agren's new French-inspired bistro will be a successful complement to his full-scale Fuel restaurant on the other side of the street.

Agren has purchased the former Camera Service Center building at 40 Lisbon St. and he plans to call his new restaurant Marché. He has remodeled the second floor as a high-end, 2,000-square-foot apartment which has already been rented.

Agren sees a "tremendous amount of business opportunity" in this block of Lisbon Street, a vision which apparently has eluded most others for the past 20 years.

A belated Cheers to Betty Greenleaf who died last week shortly after moving to Fort Worth, Texas, to be nearer her daughter, Julie Jones.

Greenleaf, 70, and her husband Al raised four children of their own plus 132 foster children over 26 years. Betty was also president of the Tri-County Foster/adoptive Association, which represented more than 200 foster families at one time.

Betty was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease in 2008 and she moved to Fort Worth last summer. This remarkably caring woman will be missed by her husband of 44 years, her four children, five grandchildren and scores of Foster children she loved and cared for.

Cheers to the latest New Moon movie, which gives hope to millions of sun-starved New Englanders. The movie shows that pastey white people can be movie-star sexy. The vampire part might not appeal to most of us, but pale white may become the next big thing. Having lost six hours of daylight since June, that's good news in these parts!