Congratulate a governor whose biggest problem nine weeks from an election is that he did not sign a document welcoming a protected species into his state. Only the conspiracy-minded would conclude that Gov. Angus King’s recent decision to call back a mistakenly approved “Wolf Awareness Week” proclamation was really caused by the undue influence of the powerful coyote lobby.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said this week that he will wait for Kenneth Starr’s report on President Clinton before passing judgment on the scandal. He also said the affair was “disgusting” and that a congressional censure might not be punishment enough, not that he’s passing judgment or anything.

Having peaceable neighbors to the north has many advantages for this nation, but the good citizens of Canada might want to start spending a tad more on military training. A story by Reuters the other day reported that two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets fired more than 1,000 cannon rounds at an escaped weather balloon yet failed to bring it down. The balloon, said to be more than 25 stories tall, later was deflated by a small boy with a sharp stick.

First airplanes, next ballparks: The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed that major airlines establish peanut-free seating zones to accommodate the approximately .1 of 1 percent of Americans who are allergic to goobers and might be sickened by tiny free-floating peanut particles. What if peanut consumers just promised to chew with their mouths closed?

Radio personality Don Imus is returning to Bangor next month despite the commotion he caused last year. The hubbub then was that the city didn’t want to defile its statue of Paul Bunyan with a giant T-shirt announcing the DJ’s arrival. That’s no longer a problem now that city councilors have decided to knock down Paul and put up Rite Aid in his place.