Little old pooch from Pasadena: “Your Fire...

Little old pooch from Pasadena: “Your Fire Department is under the gun,” began the flyer sent to Pasadena residents. The notice, which warned that the City Council might vote to cut funds for the department, was accompanied by images of bullet holes and a forlorn figure staring into a gun sight. The figure wasn’t a firefighter. It was a Dalmatian (see illustration).

The Pasadena Firefighters Assn. appeal was every bit as tasteful as the infamous National Lampoon cover of a couple of decades ago that showed a mutt with a gun held to its head alongside the message: “Buy this magazine or we’ll shoot the dog.”

Whatever, the Pasadena City Council did subsequently vote against cutting any Fire Department funds. Not that any Dalmatians would have been affected in any event. None of the city’s eight firehouses have mascots.

Tinseltown was insulted: We jumped the gun, so to speak, when we said that Daryl Gates was the first L.A. police chief to possess a Screen Actors Guild card. How could we forget this is L.A.? No doubt there were others, but one of the most recent was Ed Davis, who made appearances in “Adam-12” and other cop shows. Davis has since made good use of his thespian talents to win election to the state Senate.

Clean and jerks: Two bodybuilders were arrested after they tried--and failed--to lift a stolen copy machine into their van, Hermosa Beach police said.

“They were big boys but this was one of those monster copiers,” pointed out Detective Bruce Phillips. “They tried a couple times.”

After a brief car chase, the suspects were captured by police, who pinched them.

Curtains for realtors?A Lakewood woman had her drapes sent to the cleaners and covered her windows with sheets the other day. The next morning, she received a call from a real estate agent wondering if she was selling the house.

Catch ‘em black-handed: After a couple of pranksters at Downey’s Warren High activated the fire alarms, Principal Edward Harcharik had the devices coated with silver nitrate, a substance that turns black on the skin and clothes of anyone who touches it off.

If any miscreants are captured, perhaps they should be turned over to Bruce Janu, a Riverside, Ill., schoolteacher. According to a clipping sent by reader Dolores Zupancic, Janu punishes his students by making them stay after school and listen to Frank Sinatra records for half an hour for each offense. A demerit is known there as “a Frank.”

The Third Man: The events of this week lead Mark Steinberg of L.A. to theorize: “Ross Perot’s favorite fast food is an Out-and-In burger.”

Question of the day: “Maybe you or your readers can solve a mystery,” writes Russell Stone of West L.A. “Why are there so many streets named Euclid in the L.A. area? I know that Euclid was a Greek mathematician. But so was Pythagoras, and he doesn’t have any streets named for him in L.A.”

Tell you what. We’ll give that one plenty of thought while we’re on vacation for the next two weeks.

MiscelLAny:

Wilbur (Dr. Geek) Johnson, a 6-foot, 280-pound sombrero-clad singer who often performs at Venice Beach, won the regional competition to qualify for the National Street Musician finals. The big songfest will be held next week at New York’s Grand Central Station with the winner receiving $15,000, which beats even a good day of passing the hat.