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North Attleboro residents ought to be happy that the school committee has agreed - finally - to set up a subcommittee to meet with the board of selectmen over the fate of the "Afghans" painting.

We suspect that their praise would be restrained since the first invitation to meet came several weeks ago, has since been repeated and was accepted by the barest majority, 4-3. It's always something to worry about when two sets of leaders from the same community are reluctant to look each other in the eye and talk.

Whatever the ultimate fate of the painting that hung for decades in the Community School (formerly the junior high and high school) - whether it stays, is sold or a compromise accepted where it might hang in a Boston or Providence museum - the resolution will be reached more satisfactorily if the two main sets of players respect each other's positions and communicate.

Bees needed

Nobody here wants Rep. Jay Barrows, R-Mansfield, to lower his vigilance for waste in the state budget, but the salaries he singled out this week for two bee inspectors - $27,000 and $35,000 - are an inappropriate target. Healthy bees are simply essential to agriculture in the Bay State, and everywhere else. Numbers of note

$3 billion. Amount State Treasurer Timothy Cahill estimates the state could raise in fees if the state licenses three slot machine parlors.

$713,379.49. Amount spent on snow removal in Attleboro this season through last Sunday's storm.

120. Guinness World Record for number of games of Four Square played at one time in one place. North Attleboro Middle School took a shot at the record Tuesday.

14. Number of Norton families coping with a terminally ill parent who were to be helped by Friday night's fund-raising Kathy Bailey Memorial - It Takes a Community to Make a Difference basketball game.

113. Number of offers Norfolk Animal Control Officer Hillary Cohen received to take in Buddy, a dog rescued after he was beaten with a baseball bat, before she found a happy home to fit his special needs.

25. Number of students who can participate in each of several new online elective classes - from criminology to screenwriting - to be offered at North Attleboro High School next year.

0. Number of alcohol-serving establishments cited in the latest under-age "sting" conducted by Attleboro police. Thirty-three licensees were visited.

7. Developers who are behind in their payments to the North Attleboro Electric Department for streets not yet accepted by the town. Amounts range from $136 to $545.

$1.87. Average price of a gallon of regular self-service gasoline at the start of the week, up 2 cents from the week before, according to AAA. Kudos to:

Joshua LeClerc, 7, of Plainville, who made a heads-up 911 call when his father was injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident.

Attleboro High School student Evan Heller, 15, on receiving the President's Volunteer Service Award for his work with Special Olympics.

North TV, North Attleboro's local access organization, on celebrating its third anniversary by expanding its lineup of educational programs.

Bishop Feehan High School senior Emma Oti, who has been named a finalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program.

The Foxboro High School Jazz Ensemble, which has been named a finalist for the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Festival and Competition.

Deana Pinette, owner of Attleboro's Cutting Edge Salon & Spa, for collaborating with WCTK to organize the Cinderella Swap, which will provide prom gowns to girls of limited means.