Quackenbush Not Taking Fall for Comment

For a moment it sounded as though State Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, a Republican, was lashing out at his party’s gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren. Speaking to KFWB radio’s Bill Cooper, Quackenbush confidently declared that Lungren “is perfectly positioned for the fall.”

“You mean the election, not the fall,” Cooper said.

“The fall election,” replied Quackenbush, quickly correcting himself.

IF YOU NEEDED FURTHER PROOF: In an Only in L.A. exclusive, this column provides the first verification of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s charge that there’s a sinister right-wing plot behind the rumors of her husband’s sexual wanderings. Bill Wolff snapped a shot of a placard on a van that said, “Secret Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” (see photo).

The van, which appeared to be owned by a production company, was sighted in Hollywood, usually considered friendly territory for Clinton. “I don’t expect this guy will be working on the next [Steven] Spielberg or [Barbra] Streisand project,” Wolff commented.

AND NOW FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY REPLY: A spray-painter decorated a sign on 3rd Street thusly: “Stop the GOP Witch-Hunt Now.”

It didn’t seem to be in Hillary’s handwriting, by the way.

THANKS A LOT: A while back I mentioned the trash company that mailed out fliers to clients saying it had adopted a new billing system and wanted to apologize in advance for any “conveniences.”

Now comes the MTA with an equally comforting message. The agency sent out a notice saying it was preparing for El Nino and making every effort “to minimize any convenience” for riders (see accompanying).

WALK OF FARGO: During Metro Rail construction in Hollywood, numerous Walk of Fame plaques were uprooted and put into storage, from which they are now beginning to return.

The 9-year-old Fargo Walk of Fame in North Dakota also has had problems with its display. Of the 100 sets of celebrity footprints on Fargo’s 1st Street, two plaques--those honoring singer Garth Brooks and actor/dancer Gregory Hines--had to be repaired after cracking last winter.

“It was 60 below zero here,” explained Jerry Stevens, a spokesman for the Walk.

“With the wind chill?” I asked.

“With the wind chill, it was 120 below zero!” Stevens exclaimed.

Still doesn’t sound as scary as an MTA project.

CONGRATULATIONS (I THINK): I’m so used to national pieces on L.A. that carry headlines such as “Has L.A.’s Moment in the Sun Passed?” and “Is the City of Angels Going to Hell?” that I was shocked to see the following blurb in big type on the cover of February’s Vogue:

“L.A. SPARKLE!”

Even the most faithful Angeleno would have to admit that “sparkle” isn’t a word one would usually associate with L.A., except for the 45 minutes of temporary clean air immediately following a rainstorm. Anyway, the article had something to do with L.A. fashions but I can’t be more specific because I was unable to find the magazine’s table of contents in the forest of ads.

miscelLAny:

“Just when I thought the University of La Verne was the only place on the planet without a Monica connection,” said La Verne spokeswoman Deborah Mandabach via e-mail, “one of our students, Kimbly Craig, wins the ‘Monica Lewinsky Look-Alike Contest’ on Rick Dees’ (KIIS-FM) radio show.” Craig won $1,000--and an internship at the station, of course.

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.