No bum steer:A suspected car thief was...

No bum steer:

A suspected car thief was arrested in the San Fernando Valley by officers who became suspicious when they noticed that the moving auto had one unusual accessory: part of an anti-theft device attached to the steering wheel.

THE BIG ONE--IN LITTLE PRINT: D.K. Baker of Downey received a handsome junk mail brochure for “The Automatic Earthquake Gas Shut-Off Safety Valve,” a $200 device offered by an affiliate of the Gas Co.

“Every word and image throughout it explains and assures the reliability and efficiency and peace of mind this shut-off valve will provide,” Baker pointed out. “It is only the last line of the fine print . . . that deflates everything else.”

That’s the line that says:

Due to the unpredictability of the intensity of the ground motion and the location of your home, your valve may not close in the event of an earthquake.

Details, details.

BETTER BRING SOME SPARE CHANGE: Rick Russek of Redondo Beach sent us a flier from a coffeehouse for a talent show that prompted him to observe: “Talk about trying to circumvent the new panhandling laws. Let’s take begging off the streets and into the coffeehouses where it truly belongs!” (See excerpt)

ONLY ON FRIDAYS: You’ll have to listen closely now. Raymond Hovsepian snapped a shot of a strange street sign in Glendale. It once prohibited parking only between 8 and 10 a.m. on Fridays. Then the city apparently decided to eliminate parking on the street. But, Hovsepian observes, the city didn’t “want to spend money on a new ‘No Parking’ sign.” So it compromised, slapping the word “Except” on the original sign, thereby banning parking for 166 of the 168 hours in a week (see photo).

YOU SEND US: A publicist misidentified singer Sam Moore, one of the guests at the recent wedding of singer Travis Tritt and model Theresa Nelson. The publicist told the media it was singer Sam Cooke. Actually, Cooke couldn’t make it because he died in 1964.

MODEL T MISERIES: The most heavily traveled intersection in L.A., according to the city, is Wilshire and Veteran, where about 128,000 vehicles crawl through per day.

In the early 1920s, according to author Kevin Starr (“Material Dreams”), L.A.’s busiest intersection--at 69,797 vehicles per day--was at Adams and Figueroa.

HE THOUGHT HE WAS COVERED: Al Greenwood, the “Bedspread King” of Long Beach, was understandably excited when he sold several of his products to the set decorators for “Pacific Palisades,” Aaron Spelling’s TV show about the coastal decadent crowd. Greenwood said: “I thought we were going to get national exposure. And then I watch the show and all I see are unmade beds.”

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An ad in USC’s Daily Trojan suggests a new way to work your way through school. “Blonde egg donor sought!” it says. “Infertile couple searching for 21-30 year old BLONDE woman with BLUE or GREEN eyes, is 5’4”-5’10” and has small or medium build . . . Generous grant provided to compensate for risks and inconvenience.” (Note to couple: You might also try the cast of “Pacific Palisades.”)