When kids learn the foreign lyrics of...

When kids learn the foreign lyrics of a song by sound, the results can be very inventive, Joann Latuf of La Crescenta discovered. She heard some preschoolers at a Christmas rehearsal warble this famous holiday lyric:

“Felice naughty dog . . .”

Doctors had told Vera Moran of Redondo Beach in recent years that she had only a 1% chance of becoming pregnant. But she and husband, Luis, who married in 1974, still dreamed of conceiving a child. Their dream came true over the weekend at Long Beach Memorial Hospital when Vera gave birth to 5-pound, 4-ounce Matthew. Vera also became the oldest new mom in the 84-year history of the hospital, spokesman Ron Yukelson said. She’s 50.

Yolando Bianco of L.A. figures that rather than use the coupon offered by one taco shop (see photo), she’ll save by paying the regular rates.

Nothing seemed more wasteful to the workers at the Azusa Land Reclamation landfill than to see stuffed toys thrown away--especially at holiday time. So they’ve now set out barrels where people can deposit old teddy bears. The toys are then rehabilitated by volunteers at the Azusa Senior Citizens Center and given to needy kids. The Azusa seniors call themselves the Bear Repair Crew.

Lawyer John Welch’s jogging track is the stairway of the 73-floor First Interstate Tower. A mountain climber, he stays in shape by making a daily run from his 6th floor office to the 72nd floor in under 10 minutes--an impressive time for a 21-year-old, let alone a 70-year-old such as Welch.

To honor the ritual, his firm--Latham & Watkins--inaugurated the first annual John Welch Memorial Stairwell Ascent, a mere 39-floor dash. Seventy runners, including Welch, his daughter and two grandchildren, competed the other night in T-shirts bearing the event’s logo.

The winner was attorney / jogger Alan Chabot, 28, who got so caught up in the spirit of the thing that he climbed all 73 floors in 13:30. The biggest problem, he said, was avoiding head-on collisions with employees using the stairways to exit the building.

No ransom note yet:

The faculty bulletin at Narbonne High in Harbor City recently pleaded: “Reward offered for the return of the wastebasket from the faculty dining room.”

miscelLAny:

L.A. County’s first monorail, a cigar-shaped car suspended from an iron rail and powered by an airplane propeller, made its debut in Burbank in 1911. Inventor Joseph Fawkes built his Aerial Swallow to travel 60 m.p.h., but it fell apart on its second run after achieving a maximum speed of 3 m.p.h. The Aerial Swallow was quickly dubbed Fawkes Folly.