Police Chief Bans Parting Shots, Then Has Last Word

Brunswick, Me., police officials laid down the law on language. Deputy Chief Richard Mears, in his annual letter to the 40-member force, banned the expression “Have a nice day.” He called the familiar saying “nothing short of an absurdly shallow insult.” The remark is usually preceded by a traffic ticket, he said, and it has the same effect as “throwing gasoline on a hot fire or rubbing salt in a festering wound.” Mears suggested alternatives, such as “Hope you don’t see me again,” or “Sorry, better luck next time.” Brunswick police are used to restrictions on their speech. Last year the New Year’s directive ordered an end to profanity. “I hope these positive suggestions will help you as you conduct your daily chores next year,” Mears said in the latest message. “In the meantime, from the bottom of my heart--have a nice day.”

--A British marathoner who fought loneliness by thinking of his parents is the first foreigner to “run unescorted and alone the length of China’s Great Wall,” the official Xinhua news agency reported. William Lindesay, 31, a university researcher, left his post in Manchester to make the 1,535-mile run along the Great Wall, much of it built about 2,200 years ago. Lindesay, who said he jogged and walked a total of 78 days starting at the wall’s western end in northern Gansu Province, had to pass through mountains, deserts and isolated areas officially closed to foreigners. Equipped with a light backpack containing water, a compass, maps and a sleeping bag, Lindesay said his biggest problems were thirst, fatigue, high winds and loneliness. Lindesay told Xinhua he and his parents agreed to exchange mental greetings twice a day when he would start and stop his runs. “It was the ultimate test of my determination,” he said of his accomplishment.

--Christopher Dunsmore, a 15-year old Boy Scout, had completed all but the finishing touches on the final requirement for an Eagle Scout award. But Christopher and his brother, Clayton, 16, died in a traffic accident. Since then, the remaining 25 Scouts in Troop 49 in Stanley, N.C., have worked to complete the project--a walking trail at a retirement center. “They always supported everyone else’s project,” said Trey Perry, 14. “If you ever needed help, they would be there. Just like we’re doing now.” The troop has dedicated the quarter-mile wooded trail to the two brothers, and Scoutmaster Charles Kotlowski intends to ask the Scouts to award Christopher the medal posthumously. Troop members are “very depressed. But the boys feel they now have a purpose by helping to maintain the trail,” Kotlowski said.