An expensive fur coat, even for Malibu:...

An expensive fur coat, even for Malibu: Some residents are trying to have a historical marker placed at Malibu Creek State Park, designating it as the last spot in California where a grizzly bear killed a human. (It wasn’t a completely one-sided fight: the human had a rifle.)

The problem facing the Los Angeles County Historical Landmarks and Records Commission is determining the exact site of the battle, which occurred about 1854.

It was described, some decades later, by Horace Bell in his “Reminiscenses of a Ranger.”

The unlucky bear hunter was Andrew Sublette, who became separated from his companions and shot the critter “in one of the canons near Santa Monica. I believe it was the Malibu. . . .

“But before he could reload the fierce brute was upon him. . . . His faithful dog, Old Buck, was with him, and the two fought, Andy with his knife and Old Buck with the weapons furnished by nature. . . .”

Bell wrote that the bear was found dead, Sublette was “insensible, and Old Buck, lacerated in a shocking matter, (was) licking the blood from poor Andy’s face.”

The pooch rode to his master’s funeral in a wagon, camped out on his grave in the old Ft. Hill cemetery and, heartbroken, refused all offers of food and drink. He died there three days later.

Forget a mere designation! We’re ready to lead a fight to rename the area Old Buck State Park.

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For every dumb bureaucratic action, there is an equal and opposite stupid reaction: A few weeks ago, Mid-Wilshire accountant Don Manning shared with us an AT&T; bill that demanded that his client pay 1 cent. Now, Doris Childs of West L.A. has sent us a check for the same amount that she received from Pac Bell.

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‘Twas the 65th night before Christmas: And some holiday lights were spotted blazing away on a Sunset Boulevard apartment in Pacific Palisades. We’re not making believe, either.

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OK, so this isn’t Shangri-L.A.: A Denver news station’s promo, whose theme is “You have questions--we have the answers,” starts out with a voice asking routine questions such as when will the new airport open, why is traffic so bad, etc. And, then, an obviously alarmed voice asks, “Are we becoming another L.A.?”

No, Denver, not until you’ve won a Super Bowl. Or a World Series.

Then there was the irritating headline on the cover of a recent U.S. News & World Report: “Paradise Lost: The Sharp Decline of the Sunshine State.”

Oops. That one was about Florida.

miscelLAny:

Sara Meric of Santa Monica wants to make sure you saw the public notice that on Nov. 8 PolyGram Records will auction off the rights to 146 songs, including “She’s Strange,” “I Want It Now,” “Shake Your Pants,” “Am I Bad Enough,” “Attitude” and “In My Pants.” Minimum bid, we hardly need say, is $250,000.