A Politician Who Is Out of This World

The April 7 issue of the Star tabloid carries a where-are-they-now story about America’s astronauts, the only scandalous part being the editing.

The fellow identified in one photo as businessman Alan Shepard, “the first American in space,” is actually Richard Riordan, latest mayor in City Hall (see accompanying).

Riordan spokeswoman Noelia Rodriguez quipped that her boss “was excited to be a centerfold. The staple’s right next to his face.”

GUESS THEY COULDN’T MAKE IT TO THE PREMIERE: A Long Beach theater clerk named Melissa told a Times reporter that earlier in the week a woman who looked very much like Paula Corbin Jones and a woman who looked very much like Jones’ advisor Susan Carpenter-McMillan bought tickets to see a film.

“Primary Colors,” of course.

Melissa said that Jones, a Long Beach resident, bought a large popcorn.

LONG BEACH FIGHTS BACK: The Wall Street Journal published a letter from Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill, who objected to the newspaper’s recent description of the city as “the home of the port of Los Angeles and a lot of warehouses.”

She pointed out that “the port of Los Angeles” is in L.A. And while Long Beach “does have warehouses that support the port and the many advance manufacturing companies located here, there is much more to our city than this.”

For instance, you can see influential political figures attending the movies in Long Beach.

THE FRONT LAWN AS RUNWAY: After seeing the shot of a model in a Dries Van Noten creation at a Paris show (see photo), Lisalee Anne Wells concluded that Southern California must be the fashion capital of the world.

Explained Wells: “I realized I had already seen this look: The woman who lives across the street from me wears this exact outfit when she comes outside in the morning to pick up her newspaper off the front lawn.”

Hate to say it, but Wells lives in Long Beach.

READ ALL ABOUT IT: Ruminations here about colorful sidewalk characters prompted Don Young of Rancho Palos Verdes to recall the street-corner newspaper boys of several decades ago.

The “boys”--many of whom were actually middle-aged men--shouted out headlines of the afternoon editions to attract the attention of passers-by. Some got carried away with their reportage. Young recalled that “the hustler on Alvarado (Street) sold lots of papers, yelled louder than anyone else and always yelled out the same message, ‘He Killed Her Because He Loved Her! He Killed Her Because He Loved Her!’ ”

Has the Star heard?

miscelLAny:

Veteran antiwar activist Jerry Rubin says Monday is the 40th anniversary of the peace symbol--and who am I to argue with him? Anyway, on that day, Rubin will be at Wetzel’s Pretzels in Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, where miniature pretzels in the shape of the symbol will be served for free.

Piece.

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Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.