But would Elvis take them to court?:...

But would Elvis take them to court?: KBIG-FM, you may have heard, was sued by representatives of Barry Manilow for bragging that it didn’t play his recordings. The suit has since been settled but KBIG could have avoided legal problems in the first place if the station had instead unearthed an old KQLZ-FM theme:

“Less Music by Dead Guys.”

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Caltrans--speeding things up!Yes it’s true, at least in the case of a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., trucking firm struggling to deliver 54,000 pounds of relief supplies to quake victims through a sea of red tape.

Amerijet International had donated a truck for the nonprofit group, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, to deliver the cargo. First, the truck was halted by a state weight station in Pensacola because it exceeded the legal highway weight limit.

Florida relented after Amerijet manager James Bassett persuaded Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to allow the truck to cross its borders. “I was talking to state officials for three days,” Bassett said.

Then Texas resisted. “We had to sneak through Texas,” Bassett said.

California also refused to waive the weight limitation. But Caltrans persuaded a local company to take part of the load when the truck reached Blythe. The cargo arrived in L.A. over the weekend.

“We just heard from Texas today (Monday),” Bassett said, laughing. “They said OK.”

Banking’s a beach: We recall more affluent times when male bank tellers wore a dress shirt and tie to work every day. Alas, like everyone else, bankers seem to be suffering the effects of the recession. The other day, in a Bank of America branch in Long Beach, we spotted a teller decked out in a green T-shirt (and no tie).

“He was called in at the last second,” another clerk said gallantly.

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Don’t know much about geography: Joel Robbins gives the Daily News a failing grade in geography for this educational tip about the Winter Olympics’ “host city.” So, who’s the host country--Scandinavia?

Our greatest fan letter: We thought the note from Atco, N.J., was the first request of us for an autographed photo--until we noticed that it was addressed to a movie star.

So how did it land on our desk? Apparently because we work in the Metro section and the letter was addressed to:

Lana Turner

c/o Metro Meyer Studios

miscelLAny:

In 1785, four years after settling L.A., the inhabitants grew worried about being isolated from Mexico. So, in order to ensure their safety, they decided to really arm themselves. They sent for 35 pounds of gunpowder and 800 bullets.