Did they check the lost and found?Principal...

Did they check the lost and found?Principal Janice Schultz still hears theories about Arnold Elementary School’s famous missing time capsule. “Just yesterday someone told me it’s buried behind Room 15,” she said. “I just said, ‘Sure, sure. . . .’ ”

The odd little mystery began four years ago when the Torrance school attempted to unearth the capsule, which was planted after the school’s founding in 1967. No one could find the box, which contained Beatles records and other items. Since then, workers have dug up several areas of the campus to check out tips.

The school recently buried a new capsule, due for resurrection in 2018, and this time it’s taking no chances.

“We’ve left instructions about its whereabouts in the school safe,” she said.

Schultz suspects that the first capsule may have disappeared soon after it was buried. “I think the student who contributed the Beatles records may have retaken possession of it,” she said. “I know I wouldn’t have buried my Beatles records.”

It’s proofreaders we don’t like: Paul Kikuchi and Maida Lin Wong sent along a flyer from a print shop in Studio City that seems to have gotten carried away with its affection for writers.

List of the Day: We’ve been stewing ever since we published the rankings of the 650 top beaches in the United States by Dr. Stephen Leatherman of the University of Maryland. The highest-ranking local beach was Santa Barbara (No. 70).

Leatherman, who used dull scientific criteria such as water quality and trash content of the sand, should consider other factors, such as these:

* Venice (No. 266): Called “the Skateboard Capital of the World” by TV’s “60 Minutes.” Need we say more?

* Manhattan (No. 279): Home of Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich, self-professed nude surfer.

* Dockweiler (unranked): The birthplace of the sport of hang-gliding. “Dockweiler has the same significance for the sport that Kitty Hawk, N.C., has for general aviation,” said a spokesman for the U.S. Hang Gliding Assn.

* Malibu (No. 335): Includes Dan Blocker State Beach within its boundaries. Any beach named after TV’s Hoss (“Bonanza”) is tops with us.

* Redondo (380): Not only was it the early 20th-Century home of George Freeth, the Southland’s first famous lifeguard and surfer, but it’s also the site of the Ken & Bob Starfish Hall of Fame, named for radio personalities Ken Minyard and Bob Arthur.

No University of Maryland scientists, either: One thing about Redondo, we doubt if it got any points from Leatherman for warm, inviting signs, such as the one photographed by Herb Harris.

miscelLAny:

Old-timers will remember the eatery as Los Feliz’s Brown Derby, owned by Cecil B. DeMille. Real old-timers will recall that it was Willards (est. 1926) before that. More recently it was Michael’s Los Feliz. Next month it becomes Louise’s & the Derby.