With polls showing that half of Southern...
With polls showing that half of Southern California’s residents are pondering a move elsewhere, local publications are filled with real estate pitches from other areas.
One of the latest touts “great terms” on “comfortable houses,” ranging from $11,000 to $30,000.
They’re located in sunny El Salvador.
Noting that various amusement parks claim to offer the world’s “scariest ride,” we recently mentioned some real-life freeway maneuvers that are far more frightening. For instance, there’s “Raging Drivers”--almost any off-ramp of the Pasadena Freeway where motorists must slow from 70 m.p.h. to 10 m.p.h. or so to negotiate a 90-degree turn.
Jerry Cowle of Pacific Palisades came up with another:
Traveling south on the San Diego Freeway, “just try to exit at Valley View,” Cowle wrote. “As you attempt to cross several lanes of traffic exiting the eastbound Ventura Freeway for the southbound San Diego, you are taking your life into your hands. . . .”
There you have it--the Ventura Viper.
The free-fare period on the Metro Blue Line is over. But Jon Stringer figures he more than broke even on the $1.10 ride Tuesday morning.
As he boarded at the Del Amo station, he was honored with a cake in the shape of a train and given several free monthly passes and other gift certificates.
Stringer, 52, was so honored for having the wisdom to be the 1-millionth rider on the line.
A teacher at Steven White Junior High in Carson, he was doubly delighted because he’s a railroad enthusiast.
“When I was a youth, my family used to live in Hollywood and I rode the Hollywood line of the Pacific Electric Red Cars,” he said. “Later, we lived in Glendale and I used to ride to downtown Los Angeles to the Subway Terminal Building.”
If the latter doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because L.A.’s mile-long subway operated only from 1926 to 1955; it started downtown and emerged near the intersection of Beverly and Glendale boulevards. The prevailing wisdom when it was shut down was that L.A. would do just fine with autos and buses. Yup.
No less an authority than “60 Minutes” once termed Venice the Roller Skating Capital of the World.
But reckless skating is a problem, Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said Tuesday. And so the City Council adopted her measure to forbid wild maneuvering aboard bicycles, skateboards or other “human-powered” devices.
L.A. Police Capt. Patrick C. Froehle, who said the ordinance will authorize officers to issue tickets, emphasized that the city wasn’t outlawing skating.
The city knows better than to try that. A year ago, a flock of angry Venetians, led by Harry Parry, the roller-skating musician, and Liz (Skateboard Momma) Bevington, flocked to City Hall when signs banning skating were posted on Ocean Front Walk. The signs were removed.
Still, Joanie Garratt, a Venetian skater, said: “The practical effect of this law would be to make it virtually illegal to skate in Venice.”
Of course, Venice can always repeal the law when it secedes from L.A.
Jinny Spurgeon has one question regarding the winning site of this week’s Dueling Signs Competition (see photo) at Silver Spur Road and Montemalaga Drive in Rancho Palos Verdes.
What does a driver do when the signal’s red?
miscelLAny:
A crowd of 40,000 at Dodger Stadium will consume, on the average, about 34,000 hot dogs, 68,000 bags of peanuts, 26,000 beers, 26,000 soft drinks, 13,000 ice creams and 1,340 cups of coffee.
