Cheers and jeers from around the news:

• Jeers to legislative spoilsports. In a year of restraint, with lawmakers submitting about one-quarter fewer bills than previous years, some still offered ideas to turn us cross-eyed.

We’re looking at you, Rep. Alan Casavant, D-Biddeford.

LD 9 is Casavant’s emergency bill to “prohibit the force-feeding of birds” to produce the controversial delicacy foie gras. The process swells the stomachs of geese and ducks to fatten their livers, which turns the stomachs of animal rights activists.

Fair enough. One problem, though.

Far as we can tell, nobody makes foie gras in Maine. The nearest producer, as of 2006, was in New York, according to the Portland Press Herald. Restaurants serve it, but LD 9 doesn’t address that. So, has Maine experienced such a foie gras explosion since then as to make its prohibition necessary? It might be us, but it seems there’s much other fattened fowl in Augusta that need attention before this.

• Cheers to Jake Kavanagh, whose stunning design for the premiere inaugural ball has made his hometown of Lewiston proud. While the inauguration of a president focuses attention on one person, the occasion is really about people. Kavanagh’s efforts remind us that the making of a president is a broad effort, with contributions stemming from sea to shining sea.

• Cheers to all the Mainers who attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama, particularly 35-year-old Mike Reynolds of Lewiston. Reynolds, who has cerebral palsy, ditched his wheelchair and medical backpack and walked and took public transport to see the ceremony. Reynolds had concern his disability would stop him. Rather, it seems nothing does.

• Jeers to the Sen. John Martin v. John Frary imbroglio for ending. (Martin accused Frary of an ethics violation for mentioning him in a congressional ad targeting Rep. Mike Michaud. The state ethics commission on Jan. 29 declined to review it.)

Instead, we’re left with Frary’s letter to the state’s ethics commission, which ended thus:

“A columnist of wide and prolonged experience with our state’s politics has characterized this charge as ‘crap.’ A lawyer as knowledgeable about [the case law] as any in the state describes it as stupid. I hope you will not think me presumptuous if I suggest that the Commission issue a bold and summary declaration that this charge is ‘stupid crap.’ This will be helpful in deterring similar silliness in the future.”

Love him or loathe him, Frary had a point.

• Finally, cheers to Falcon Shoe for researching the feasibility of producing boots for miners that include tracking devices. This seems a smart approach to entrapments, which almost always worsen because rescuers lack location information. Where are the miners trapped? Are they moving? How deep are they?

If its boot technology is successful, Falcon’s work should save lives.