Traffic obstacle du jour:Motorists came to a...

Traffic obstacle du jour:

Motorists came to a halt on the San Diego Freeway in Van Nuys on Friday after a truck spilled a load of jewelry gift boxes.

Luckily, the boxes were empty or the accident might have caused one of the all-time SigAlerts.

Caltrans doesn’t want that kind of diamond lane.

YOU CAN STAND A LITTLE TALLER TODAY, ANGELENOS: The city’s new self-promotional campaign, “It’s amazing what grows in Los Angeles,” spotlights L.A.’s contributions to the world.

We have to admit that we felt chills go down our back when we saw a street banner that said L.A. was the birthplace of the “BBQ Chicken Pizza” (see photo).

COLLEGE DAZE: Sandra Jennings’ son received a letter, addressed to A. Jennings, which invited him to apply at California Maritime Academy.

The computerized missive promised young Jennings that “because California Maritime is such a small college, you will not be a number, A.”

BEFORE $5 PARKING AND $4 BEERS. . . . : In other words, before the Dodgers, L.A. had two minor league baseball teams, the Hollywood Stars and the Los Angeles Angels.

They inspired some humorous stories at a reunion of the Pacific Coast League Historical Society, founded by Dick Beverage:

* In the 1950s, Hollywood players were warned to just “smile and wave” if they were booed or jeered by three men who sat behind the Stars’ dugout in Gilmore Field.

The trio consisted of mobster Mickey Cohen and two of his bodyguards.

* The practice of sweeping the infield between innings is believed to have been begun by Stars’ concessionaire Danny Goodman, who figured it would give fans more time to buy food between innings. (Another L.A. first! Alas for Goodman, it came before the advent of BBQ chicken pizza.)

* Sportscaster Irv Kaze revealed that a long-running inside joke was the public address announcer’s salute of the visiting Tarzana Kiwanis Club in Gilmore’s left-field grandstand.

The “Kiwanis” were actually gamblers who would wave dollar bills as the crowd cheered.

One of the speakers at this year’s reunion was Bill Marx, who recalled going to games with his celebrity father, Harpo.

“My father was a member of the Tarzana Kiwanis Club,” the son quipped.

WITH INTEREST: A while back we reported that a group of disabled adults at a downtown vocational workshop were sorting out empty coin bags from the Union Bank of California when they found $43,000 in checks and cash.

A supervisor for the workshop, which is operated by the Crippled Children’s Society, said the honest workers never received so much as a thank-you from Union.

Well, the bank has since made amends for the oversight.

Not only were the workers thanked, but Union Bank made a $1,000 donation to the Crippled Children’s Society.

miscelLAny

Roger Vincent came across an air cargo company’s Web site, which referred to L.A. as one of the most “ethically” diverse regions in the world. Is that another crack about the morality of L.A. politicians?