Options - Preferences - Editing tab - then turn on the "Collapse loop region" option. Now click anywhere on the timeline and the loop region will disappear.
Sure there is. I always turn this setting on. I would rather it go away when I click somewhere else. It's all a matter of PERSONAL preference - my preference is to collapse - your is not.
If you don't mind seeing the yellow triangles, type "i" then "o" will insert a zero-length region wherever the playhead is. ("i" sets the "in" point and "o" sets the "out" point.)