Hardly more than a stone’s throw from...

Hardly more than a stone’s throw from the courthouse: The Hyatt Regency Los Angeles has announced a special media rate of $92 per night for reporters covering the Rodney G. King trial. Amenities include free use of the hotel’s fitness center for any news hounds who feel they should be in better running shape at verdict time.

No hailing L.A.’s taxis: In an article titled “Watch That Meter,” Conde Nast Traveler rode with cabbies in 10 major cities and found they were overcharged in five, including L.A.

The magazine says an “honest” cabbie charged its reporter $19.40 for a jaunt from LAX to Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. But, on the return trip, “a different cabdriver took an indirect freeway route that cost $11.60 more.”

Then, again, the Harbor Freeway is very scenic.

No experience needed: The resumes don’t figure to be very long for the youthful type sought in this advertisement that Phyllis Waggner noticed in a local newspaper.

Bradley Touring Sweepstakes results: The winner of Only in L.A.’s latest contest was Ricardo Ordonez of the People’s Republic of Santa Monica, who was the first to name 10 countries that L.A.’s mayor hasn’t visited.

The nations somehow left off Bradley’s itinerary: Nicaragua, Cuba, South Africa, Paraguay, Iran, Vietnam, North Korea, Laos, Somalia and Madagascar.

Ordonez’s victory was in doubt at first because we seemed to recall photos of the mayor in Madagascar inviting the inhabitants to visit L.A. and dine at the several excellent Madagascaran restaurants here. But we could find no record of such a trip in our voluminous Bradley-on-the-road file.

So, congratulations, Mr. Ordonez: You are the winner of a toy Zamboni Ice Cleaning Machine from the Fabulous Only in L.A. Warehouse.

Incidentally, we felt some sympathy for one entrant who put down the United States as one of the countries where the mayor hasn’t spent time. Bradley was here earlier this year.

Grim symbol: John Holtzman of Lancaster pointed out the irony of a photo in The Times’ Valley Edition that showed a stolen car that had crashed, killing the driver. Next to the wreckage lay the battery, which had been ejected on impact. The brand: DieHard.

Great balls of foil: Students at Lincoln Elementary School in La Crescenta are making a character named Fred out of foil as part of an L.A.-area recycling contest. We think the winner should roll through the next Doo Dah Parade, replacing last year’s Giant Hairball.

Some people collect matchbook covers . . . Commenting on an architectural magazine’s article about “J.F.K.” director Oliver Stone’s five homes (including one in Santa Monica), the New Republic had a question about the landscaping:

“Is there a grassy knoll?”

miscelLAny:

Journal of the Senses, the magazine of the Topanga-based Elysium nudist camp, reveals that there’s a local nudist news service called Bare in Mind.