They called it a Flying Nun Run, but it really was a lot of down-to-earth walking.

SISTER POWER: Employees at two hospitals have developed an ingenious method to raise money to cover the hospital bills of uninsured patients.

At Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, they attached a simple pedometer to a busy administrative nursing supervisor. In a variation of the popular walk-for-charity technique, employees collected pledges for each mile that Sister Mechtilde Gerber trekked over two days in the course of her normal duties.

Sister Mechtilde walked, and walked, and walked. She clocked a total of 46 miles in 48 hours, averaging nearly one mile per hour. That was twice as much as Sister Anna Mary Meyer did in her rounds as director of pastoral care at the Catholic hospital’s sister facility, Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey.

A hospital employee for more than three decades, Sister Mechtilde is nicknamed the “white tornado” because of her energy and trademark white habit. She is in her 70s.

“A lot of people said, ‘I’ll do $5 a mile.’ They didn’t know Sister Mechtilde would go that far,” said hospital spokeswoman Mary Ellen Brown.

In all, the two walking sisters raised more than $10,000 for an emergency relief fund that will help defray the hospitals’ costs in treating hundreds of uninsured patients during the Los Angeles riots.

The name of the event: The Flying Nun Run.

MEAN MACHINE: With its sleek design and eye-catching paint job, a specially equipped van recently unveiled by the Torrance Police Department could rival the Batmobile.

The van, used by the department’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, bristles with audio and video equipment. Officers drive the van to Torrance elementary and middle schools to help spread an anti-drug message, playing music and videos.

The van was purchased with narcotics forfeiture funds and has been a hit with children. Even passing motorists do a double take when the van is on the streets, Officer Jim Ulrich said.

“We’ve had truck drivers (honk) and wave when they see the van,” Ulrich said. “People get really excited about it . . . One person almost drove off the road.”

NOT ALL ABOARD: Most South Bay cities are flocking to support a proposed study of a Metro Green Line southern extension that could serve as the area’s entree to the mass-transit age.

But in Carson, city leaders remain unconvinced that the project would ease their traffic snarls. The city last week rejected a request for money for an environmental impact study of the project, which could produce a light-rail line running up car-choked Hawthorne Boulevard. Hawthorne Boulevard lies 4 miles west of Carson’s borders. “The Green Line is too far from the city to really benefit us at all,” City Engineer George Shultz said.

To date, 14 of 16 South Bay cities have committed funds toward or agreed in spirit to the study. The other holdout is Los Angeles, which says it does not have the money. Two more cities, Hermosa Beach and Hawthorne, have told transportation officials it is a safe bet they would ante up, although their city councils have not yet voted on the matter.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission’s South Bay Corridor Steering Committee says it will negotiate with Carson and Los Angeles to persuade them to contribute. But even if the two cities do not join in, it would not halt the study, which is scheduled to be done early next year.

Although the most often-mentioned scenario is a rail line down Hawthorne Boulevard from El Segundo through Torrance, committee technical adviser Gary Irwin said alternatives are possible.

Irwin, who is the assistant city administrator of Lomita, made a plea for unity, saying that “only by the 16 cities getting together can we reduce the transportation mess that we have.”

That mess will be around a while longer. No construction date has been set, and officials warn that the extension is only one of 10 such projects that may be built sometime in the next 30 years.

NO PLAY’S THE THING: There were no angels, no wise men, no creche--not even a mouse--in the Christmas play last week at Harbor View House in San Pedro.

In a creative anti-play, the actors on stage at the home for about 200 mentally handicapped people protested throughout that they could not possibly put on a play before Christmas; it would just be too much work and too many things had gone wrong.

The non-play featured Brenda Lauriat as Shorty, Luanne Wolfrum as Morty and Pat Holmes as Pat. The three overall-clad actors said that everyone in the audience--who had been mailed an invitation to Harbor View’s Christmas play--also should have received a dis-invitation.

But then, they had made a terrible mistake and hired the OOPS delivery service. They had sent away for costumes, but instead of the Santa Claus suit they ordered, a hairy plastic gorilla stomach had arrived. A rubber chicken showed up where a large candy cane should have been.

So, they joked, they had decided to postpone the Christmas play to Jan. 23. Sure it would be late, but at least by then they would have a set.

The play, written by two staff members at Harbor View House, was short and sweet enough to keep the audience of 150 residents, family members, friends and staff laughing throughout.

LAST WEEK’S CITY HALL HIGHLIGHTS

Inglewood: The City Council amended its zoning code on Tuesday to say that group homes must be at least 300 feet apart. Council members complained that their city has too many group homes.

Torrance: The City Council on Tuesday voted to name Alta Loma Park’s recreation building after the late Ruth Hayes, a longtime park volunteer and community activist. The Hillside Homeowners Assn. recommended naming the building after Hayes, who died in January, 1990.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Inglewood: Judges will hit the streets of Inglewood on Monday night to cast ballots for the most beautifully decorated houses. The most dazzling display will likely be seen in Morningside Park, which is known around the county for its lavish Yuletide decorations.

Los Angeles: The City Council on Tuesday will consider finalizing an agreement with various state agencies to set aside 20 bluff-top acres in San Pedro for military housing. The plan calls for leasing the land to the federal government to enable the Air Force to build enough housing to retain its Space and Missile Systems Center in the South Bay.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Inglewood: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 1 Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. (310) 412-5280. No cable telecast.

Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. In San Pedro, (310) 548-7637; in Wilmington, (310) 548-7586; in Harbor City/Harbor Gateway, (310) 548-7664; in Westchester, (310) 641-4717. Televised live on Channel 35; meetings are replayed individually at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and collectively on Sunday starting at 10 a.m.

Torrance: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance. (310) 618-5880. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon), and replayed at 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.