Next stop--the Topanga Zone: The Topanga Messenger...

Next stop--the Topanga Zone: The Topanga Messenger newspaper reports that a man and his female companion recently told the Lost Hills-Malibu sheriff’s station that they’d been abducted by UFOs in Topanga after dining at Gladstone’s.

This brings up an interesting philosophical point, namely: What constitutes a UFO in Topanga ? As Messenger writer Colin Penno cheerily concedes: “We’re in a different universe out here.”

Anyway, sheriff’s Deputy Michael Gurrola confirmed that such a call was received from an individual who “talked of a bright light coming over the car and lifting it up. He said it was transported a certain distance. There was no damage to the car and no harm to them.”

The Messenger adds that at least five other UFO contacts have been reported in Topanga in recent years.

But it couldn’t be established how many of these encounters also followed a night of dining at Gladstone’s.

Dan Quayle Spelling Bee Winner of the Week: Peggy Ziegler of Pomona passes along a copy of a handwritten letter to constituents from U.S. Rep. David Dreier (R-La Verne), whose teachers might shudder at his spelling.

This drink’s on you: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the opening of Dodger Stadium, which, you may recall, initially had no drinking fountains on several levels. A mere oversight, the Dodgers explained. One theory holds that this omission gave rise to the custom of Dodger fans departing games around the seventh inning--they were actually leaving to search for water.

Anyway, we’re happy to report that things have changed. The Dodgers have long since installed a few drinking fountains. And this year, for the first time, fans can even drink Evian water--a 16-inch container of the stuff sells for just $2.75.

Annals of old L.A.: David Kohnhorst recalls that 35 years ago Sunland-Tujunga was pronounced “the most healthy place in the world” by now-defunct Coronet magazine.

“Doctors in Europe were sending asthma patients to Sunland-Tujunga--1,500-foot elevation, the sun bouncing off the mountain rocks, breezes blowing through the mountain canyons,” Kohnhorst said.

He remembers for good reason.

“I had a little asthma so we found our way to Sunland-Tujunga,” he said. “I was helped by the great air, but then the smog came in. . . .”

Postscript: The house invaded by the title character in the 1982 movie, “E.T.,” was actually located in Tujunga. And, a few days after his arrival, E.T.’s health took such a turn for the worse that he was forced to phone home.

miscelLAny:

The only car dealer ever to be honored at halftime during the Rose Bowl was Earl (Madman) Muntz, whose name was spelled out by pranksters during the 1943 game.