A scout from the “To Tell the...

A scout from the “To Tell the Truth” TV show phoned The Times, saying she wanted to contact an Antelope Valley shepherd who had been pictured with his flock in the newspaper.

She was told that it would be difficult to reach the shepherd because he lives in a trailer and follows the sheep from pasture to pasture.

“He doesn’t have a telephone?” she asked incredulously.

And, he speaks only Spanish.

“He doesn’t speak English?” she groaned. “Oh, we’ll have to find a shepherd who speaks English.”

Make that, a shepherd who speaks English and has a cellular phone.

Political consultant Harvey Englander, recently hired to head City Councilman Hal Bernson’s troubled campaign team, is no stranger to local politics. Englander uttered one of the most memorable lines of the 1989 municipal elections.

After his candidate, Lyle Hall, lost to City Councilman Ernani Bernardi that year, Englander growled:

“The people have spoken--the bastards.”

You can see why he’s working in a different district this time.

In the nothing-ever-changes category, Milt Larsen of L.A. sends along a Times clipping from July 2, 1919, that recounts an earlier conflict between top city officials. It was headlined:

“Police Chief Moves Mayor.”

It seems that the mayor was among a group of unruly cafe guests who refused to disperse, whereupon the chief “took the mayor by the nape of the neck and ushered him to the police station.” If it’s any comfort, this occurred in Bakersfield.

F lub of the Week:

Channel 9 news reported that an earthquake had struck Panama and “Costa Mesa.”

Now that two members of our recent list of vanished L.A. institutions are returning--grilled Dodger Dogs and Buzz magazine--M.J. Hartley of L.A. suggests a new nominee . . . Mayor Bradley.

But the mayor, currently in Asia, is coming back. (Isn’t he?)

It Was the 244th Night Before Christmas:

Donald Lehti of L.A. reports that he recently heard a catering truck in the Pico-Union area playing, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

Perhaps that explains the sign (see photo) on Alameda Street. And you haven’t even started your shopping.

miscelLAny:

The nation’s first successful chinchilla farm was founded in L.A. in 1923. The pioneer creatures were from Peru and Chile.