Robin the Hood: A woman phoned Coast...

Robin the Hood: A woman phoned Coast Federal Bank and informed Vice President Heidi Oftendorf that she had found a 1985 bank calendar that showed December containing 30 days.

“She said your column (Only in L.A.) was interested in running it and what did I think of that,” Oftendorf recalled. “I said it might be a bit embarrassing to us.

“Then she said, ‘I knew you’d feel that way,’ and asked what kind of ‘reward’ we would give her for keeping it out of The Times.”

Oftendorf laughed.

“I told her we wouldn’t be that embarrassed,” she said.

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Whistle-stopping for bras: A conceptual artist named Nicolino says he will stop in L.A. and several other cities during a train odyssey in search of 10,000 bras to stretch across the Grand Canyon.

Why, Nicolino?

“It’s a humorous commentary focusing on a serious subject--breast obsession in our culture,” he said. “The idea that a woman’s self-esteem depends on the shape of the body.”

Nicolino said he won’t ask park authorities for a permit for his work--titled “Bras Across Grand Canyon”--until he’s collected enough lingerie to span at least a mile. He’ll ask for donations during a two-hour stopover at Union Station Tuesday night (ETA 8:10 p.m.).

And where will he put them?

“Amtrak has enormous storage space,” he said. “And, I’m going to be in a sleeper so I can always jam some under my seat.”

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Menu item of the day: William Hannosh was in a Duarte restaurant when he spotted this mystery dish.

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Nothing’s been the same since Johnny Carson retired: Photographer Scott Dewees wonders if budget cutbacks are the reason that Burbank has decided not to try to achieve full-time beautification.

Biggest debate ever to follow a car accident: A student who had been dispatched on an errand by Cleveland High teacher Sarah Rosenberg had been involved in an accident.

“Fortunately, no one was hurt,” Rosenberg related. “And this young man showed up and said he was the other driver and it was his fault.”

The young man asked if he could make restitution privately. Rosenberg asked him if he’d had any debating experience.

“He said he had been a team debater five years ago,” she continued. “So I told him I was putting on a debating tournament that night and we were desperately short of judges. Would he be a judge? He said OK. He did a great job. He was there until 11:30.”

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Stupid criminal tricks: A bank robber making a getaway in Lancaster paused to shove a $1 bill into a Salvation Army kettle.

“Probably heard our kettles were down by 20%,” said George Church, a Salvation Army commander.

Such thoughtfulness may bring about the robber’s own undoing, however. The FBI later confiscated the kettle and dusted every bill for fingerprints.

miscelLAny:

Incidentally, the Coast Federal Bank calendar collector never phoned Only in L.A. She probably surmised that this column is too cheap to pay for anything.