Story May Draw Boos in Malibu

There’s that old East Coast snobbery again. Reviewing Ken Starr’s investigation, a Wall Street Journal editorial noted that he was criticized for announcing his plan to take a position as dean of the law school at “Pepperdine--wherever that is.” Talk about kicking sand in a university’s face!

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LOW CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS: Christina Grahl of Glendale sent along a clipping about an indisputably illegal act at the White House.

Shoplifting.

This White House, though, is a store in the Glendale Galleria.

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NOT REAL LIP-SMACKING: Patricia Sullivan of Vista found a shopper extolling the “rich butter flavor” of “muscles” (see photo). Not just any “muscles,” though. The “green lip” type.

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ANGELENOS ON THE ROAD: John Brossart of Cerritos was struck by the strange sight of the famous ladder-bearing palm trees of Cathedral City (see photo). Places for the locals to get away from it all?

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BIG NAME: If you ever wondered about the origin of the downtown street Gen. Thaddeus Kosciusko Way, its namesake is profiled in a new book “Forgotten Americans: Footnote Figures Who Changed American History.”

Named for a Polish Revolutionary War hero, Gen. Thaddeus Kosciusko Way takes almost as much time to pronounce as it does to walk--it’s just two blocks long (and possibly the greatest challenge ever for the Tiny Writing Department of the Thomas Street Guide).

A roadway is also named for the general in New York and there’s an old story about it. A police officer supposedly found a dead horse on the street, but rather than try to spell Kosciusko in his report, he dragged the beast over to the next block.

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REPENTANCE: My apologies to Marjorie Flathers for goofing up an item she sent to me. She said that her alma mater San Bernardino Valley College is jokingly called UCNF--University of California Near Fedco. For some reason, I said she was referring to UC San Bernardino, which doesn’t even exist, unlike Cal State San Bernardino (or Pepperdine, for that matter). The mistake occurred in Friday’s column. I wanted to get my correction on the record immediately. This is no time for cover-ups.

miscelLAny:

Thanks for breaking off from the Starr Report to read this column.

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.