FIRST OFF . . .

KRTH-FM staffers were still shaking their heads Thursday over the overwhelming response to their little April Fool’s prank. As part of an elaborate 3 1/2-hour hoax, disc jockey Steve Morris told listeners that all Los Angeles freeways would be closed for a month starting April 8 for major repairs. “We wanted to do something special for April Fool’s day,” explained KRTH program director Phil Hall. “We thought that this was the most ludicrous thing we could say--so crazy that nobody would believe.” They overestimated their audience. The station received “hundreds” of calls. But that wasn’t the least of it. Phones at Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol also didn’t stop ringing. Hall said he received a call from Caltrans “telling us that they didn’t think it was very funny and asked us to make an announcement that it was a hoax.” Deejay Morris complied 20 minutes later, as he had initially planned. And continued to fess up to the prank Thursday, lest any listener be planning an alternate route.