Steven Sandoval of Torrance writes to commend...

Steven Sandoval of Torrance writes to commend USAir for joining in the celebration of the year you-know-who sailed the ocean blue.

Sandoval points out that you can now sail the sky blue from LAX to Columbus, Ohio, on Flight No. 1492.

After L.A. was all but ignored in cities-of-the-world features in Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler magazines, we finally found a publication that did mention the City of Angels in its survey: L.A. Weekly.

Among its “Best of the Best of L.A.” of the last 10 years were:

Best Cat Memorial: The mural on the sidewalk outside Elysian Heights Elementary School, which pays tribute to a feline named Room 8, who more or less lived at the school from 1953 to 1968 (disappearing during summer vacations).

Best Freeway: The Marina (90) because “there are no glaring billboards (and) there’s usually only light traffic.” Of course, it’s only three miles long.

Best Public Necking Place: Any departure gate at LAX. “It doesn’t matter that you’re not going anywhere. Everyone is too busy weeping and kissing to notice.”

Alas, we must take issue with the Weekly’s Best Month in L.A. selection.

Here are some clues supplied by the newspaper:

The winning month is “suspended ‘twixt solstice and equinox in a warp of climatic perfection” and “like the baby bear’s porridge (it’s) neither too hot nor too cold--it’s ‘just right.’ ”

Surely, you guessed it:

Balmy, 107-degree October.

If County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn’s statehood proposal succeeds, L.A. will need an official bird, as we mentioned the other day.

Flying to the rescue is Charles Bragg, editor of the Santa Monica Audubon newsletter.

Bragg nominates as candidates the pigeon, the starling and the house sparrow.

“None are natives of America so they would fit in nicely in L.A.,” Bragg said, referring to the old saying that people move to L.A., but no one is ever born here.

One variety of candidate No. 1--the carrier pigeon--could be honored for its brief service as a mail-carrier between Santa Catalina and San Pedro at the turn of the century.

As for the starling, Bragg points out that “the star aspect is in keeping with Hollywood.” And its Latin name is sturnus vulgaris, which sounds like a good description of some current-day stars.

Finally, the appropriateness of the house sparrow would be evident in a city where so many people are obsessed with real estate.

Parking-lot owners try all sorts of gambits to keep out intruders. But Mid-Wilshire resident Michael Saltzman noticed a proprietor on Beverly Boulevard who seems to be threatening to turn trespassers into a frog.

miscelLAny:

In the early years of the school, USC’s athletic teams were called the Methodists or the Wesleyans.