Cheers and jeers from around the news:

• Jeers to Bethel and its bizarre saga regarding its police chief, Alan Carr. It has been impossible to get a straight answer about his job status. Is Carr still the chief, or isn’t he? Town administration and Carr himself are mum.

The Bethel Citizen reported the chief’s desk has been “stripped of his personal belongings.” And the town’s rumor mill is spinning furiously, since Carr’s sudden job insecurity coincides with the acquittal of a suspect in the murder of Scott Libby in Bethel last year.

Public safety cannot balance on rumors. If the town has no police chief, the public has the right to know it. The new town manager in Bethel, Jim Doar, must clear the air. For residents, this isn’t a perfunctory personnel matter.

• Cheers to President Obama, for signing an executive order banning federal employees from texting while driving. If the law is going to lag on this threat to life and property on the roads — the texting driver — those with authority should take matters into their own hands. The president did.

And others similarly situated should take note.

• Cheers to the Land Use Regulation Commission. This embattled agency has taken its share of criticism regarding Plum Creek; we feel it is undeserved. It did the best it could with the review, given the resources it was provided and the historical and cultural significance of the Plum Creek plan.

Over the course of a diligent, detailed four-year review, LURC was able to approve a concept plan from Plum Creek that was significantly smaller than first proposed, while helping foster the conditions to allow the largest land conservation deal in the United States to be brokered, too.

If somebody wants to build a garage in the Unorganized Territory, or a four-season resort, or a wind turbine farm, the same small government agency is tasked with the review. This is ludicrous, yet critics are quick to say LURC failed in its job.

We would ask, what resources does LURC need to do its job better?

• Jeers to whatever evil rapscallion stole Miss Maine’s crown from her car in Portland. It’s bad enough whoever it was was breaking into cars, but this is the lowest of the low, right up there with stealing a little kid’s backpack.

Miss Maine, Susie Stauble of Gray, is appealing for her crown back. She should get it.

And an apology, too.

• And finally, cheers to everyone who’s participating in the Dempsey Challenge over this weekend. We hope the weather stays clear and everyone is safe and has fun. This has a great chance of becoming a landmark annual event, as both a fundraiser and a community celebration.

We hope it goes great.

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