People and Events

Last fall, Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block took a look at himself in the mirror, in newspaper photographs and on television, then concluded that he was getting too heavy. “I decided it was time to do something about it,” Block recalls.

He got a nutritionist to review his food intake--which on some days included whatever he was served for breakfast, lunch and dinner at public functions. Now, says the sheriff, he controls his diet carefully and often has his secretary inquire about the menu at some banquet or luncheon, arranging for a more healthful meal whenever possible.

He also spends about half an hour every morning on a treadmill.

As a result, the 64-year-old Block has lost 42 pounds and says, “I feel great.” The reports on his physical exams are like those of an entirely different man, he says, “cholesterol and everything.”

“It really does something for your self-esteem,” he adds. “I really feel good about myself.”

Not only that, the other day he tried on the sergeant’s uniform he wore in 1960.

It fit.

A cat (or stuffed replica thereof) was introduced Monday by the Greater Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau as its mascot. LA Cat was designed by the same outfit that sent California raisins shuffling across TV screens.

It made its debut Monday morning when Mayor Tom Bradley, City Council President John Ferraro and bureau officials cut the ribbon on the new Downtown Information Center at 695 S. Figueroa St.

LA Cat, according to a publicity release, “was designed as the embodiment of the Los Angeles resident.”

How, exactly?

The publicity release reports that Emmett McGaughey, the bureau president, answered that one this way:

“He loves the beauty of the surrounding mountains, sea and desert; the highly charged atmosphere of new ideas and big business; entertainment, sports, music, and the culture and heritage of Los Angeles.”

McGaughey (who probably never talked like that when he was on the Los Angeles Police Commission) added that the 5-foot, 3-inch stuffed cat will “make a wonderful good will ambassador for Los Angeles.”

It might take at least that to calm Hollywood sightseeing tour operator Michael Kellerman, who is “really outraged” because a Los Angeles area map in the front part of the Visitor’s Guide issued by that same agency does not show Hollywood by name.

Kellerman said the world-famous location was left off the guide’s map several years ago, was subsequently reinstated and then dropped again. “I think it’s appalling,” he complained. “How do people from somewhere else find Hollywood on this map?”

Tourists, he maintained, care a lot more about Hollywood than they do about Compton, Downey or Pico Rivera--all shown.

Reminded that Hollywood is not a separate city, but part of Los Angeles, Kellerman responded, “So is Van Nuys. But it’s on that map.”

Steve Sellery, director of creative services for the bureau, explained that the word Hollywood was left off the map by error. He said he told Kellerman that if it isn’t there in the next edition of the guide, “I’ll leave this company.”

Hollywood, Sellery agreed, “Is very important. It’s gotta be there.”

Shooters pretty well followed the form chart over the weekend at the Long Beach Police Department’s pistol competition for law enforcement officers from California and Nevada.

John Pride, a Los Angeles Police Department firearms instructor who was already ranked tops in the state, came in first, edging out Marc Cobb of the Long Beach Police Department, who was already ranked second.

Pride says he took an interest in shooting after he got into a street shoot-out with a suspect “and did everything wrong. I survived because I hit him and he missed me.”

He became such an aficionado that he markets his own videotape on pistol marksmanship.

A total of 185 shooters from various departments, the FBI, the U.S. Border Patrol, the California Highway Patrol and other outfits took part in the three-day shoot-out.

A four-man team of security officers from the Four Queens Casino in Las Vegas were the winners in their class in the team competition.

So be careful.