People and Events

The holiday season is a time when gifts elicit surprises in households across the nation--as well as in post offices.

“It’s amazing what people try to send through the mail,” said George Roberts, manager of mailing requirements at the Terminal Annex downtown.

Roberts recalled packages that had burst open to reveal a toilet seat with gold coins encrusted in the wood, a set of one rubber man and one rubber woman (uninflated) and a package of live snakes “that had everyone here upset for a while.”

On the other hand, an unwrapped automobile tire that bore stamps on the treads sailed through smoothly, as did a properly addressed, bare grapefruit.

Regulations forbid the mailing of items that exceed 70 pounds in weight or 104 inches in combined length and width. Nor is it legal to send warm-blooded animals, such as hamsters, dogs, cats and squirrels.

But, Roberts said, it is permissible to mail “small, harmless, cold-blooded animals that don’t require food and water and won’t cause sanitary problems, such as lizards, leeches, tadpoles and alligators.”

Alligators?

“I should say, baby alligators,” Roberts added.

A pool player not only refused to give up his pants after losing an Altadena barroom bet but returned later and wounded his opponent with an automatic rifle, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. The sore loser, who had put up his pants against $50, is being sought, Sgt. Robert Gonzales said. The sore winner was treated for a scalp wound and released.

Tom Bradley will star as a four-term mayor of Los Angeles next month in an episode of the television series “Hunter”--not bad exposure for someone seeking reelection in April.

Bradley, in the tradition of politicians from California, is a veteran of television appearances on such programs as “Matlock.”

In contrast, the celluloid work of his expected rival, City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, has been limited to a promo--shown at Westwood movie theaters--for a local shuttle bus. Yaroslavsky’s portrayal drew mixed reviews from theatergoers impatient for the regular feature to begin.

A spokesman for the city councilman only laughed when asked if Yaroslavsky would ask for equal time.

Informed that “Hunter” is a detective show, the spokesman speculated that the plot might involve a Bradley appointee who recently resigned because of absenteeism:

“Who’s the mayor going to look for, Alvin Greene?”

Now you can be a member of the Smog Police, working undercover for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The district--which earlier this year instituted an (800) CUT-SMOG hot line for “smoking vehicle” complaints--is distributing citation blanks that enable motorists to report by mail the license number of any fuming car or bus they see.

“When someone sends us a citation, we notify the owner of the (smoking) vehicle and send him a compliance form,” said Jacqueline Switzer, a spokeswoman for the AQMD. “Under the law, we can’t require the owner to make changes, but a surprising number are taking care of the problem. After all, if a car is smoking, that’s symptomatic of a more serious problem.”

AQMD workers are participating, too. Switzer estimates that she has turned in 25 drivers.

One happy tradition on Skid Row is the annual visit each December of a businessman who passes out $10 bills to the street people at the Midnight Mission.

“He varies the time so we never know exactly when he’ll come by,” said mission Director Clancy Imislund, adding that the Skid Row Santa prefers to keep his identity a secret.

This year, he gave out $6,000, including some bills that will be handed out this morning at the downtown mission, which serves free, hot breakfasts to women and children off the streets.

Imislund said he was told by one of the Skid Row Santa’s recipients: “Maybe I should buy wine with it, but if you give me a stamp and an envelope, I’m going to send it to my kid.”