Here’s one for “Unsolved Mysteries”:Ben Lopez claims...

Here’s one for “Unsolved Mysteries”:

Ben Lopez claims that he parked against a nice, legal, gray patch of curb off Sunset Boulevard a few days ago and when he returned four hours later, the curb had been painted red.

Not only that, there was a $53 parking ticket stuck in his windshield.

Who says you can’t get quick service from the city?

Lopez is fighting the ticket.

City Transportation Department officials, asked by Only in L.A. whether such a chain of events was possible, speculated that Lopez might have parked by a faded red curb that was repainted a brighter color.

Lopez, however, sent us photos that appear to show a bright red curb with two patches of gray where car tires might have been parked.

Another possibility, Transportation said, is that the parking officer was fooled by a “bootleg job”--a piece of painting by someone in the neighborhood.

Lopez had intended to go to court, but Guy Quinn, an assistant general manager in Transportation, said Tuesday that his department would investigate if Lopez asked.

“Occasionally we make mistakes,” Quinn said.

To be continued.

Apparently the Department of Water and Power figures that residents will worry and fret if they don’t receive their bills on time. Meredith Henry of West L.A. enclosed her latest DWP bill, which told her she owes $0.00. That’s right: nothing. An explanatory note added thoughtfully that her real bill had been “delayed--will mail later.” Adds Henry: “We can hardly wait.”

Dept. of Redundancy Dept.:

Quintin Doherty of Van Nuys reports: “The sign in the parking lot at the L.A. County Museum of Art reads: ‘Pre-pay in advance.’ ”

Bill Cohen of West Covina recalls, for old times’ sake, a one-time local baseball name that ranks right up there with The The Tar Tar Pits (the La Brea Tar Pits): The The Angels Angels (the Los Angeles Angels).

An elderly Phoenix man called The Times the other night and said he was “not very familiar with your neck of the woods, but thought you ought to know.” He had dreamed that a major earthquake would hit the L.A. area at 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 5 or 6, centered in an area with “walk” in its name.

Sorry, Norwalk. We meant to warn you but it slipped our mind.

miscelLAny:

Historian John Weaver says L.A.’s first taxicab driver appeared on June 16, 1908. Fare: 30 cents for the first half-mile, 20 cents for each additional quarter-mile.