Jury No Longer Out on Jerry Springer

The controversial TV host has reduced the violence on his show, so officials have removed the sign that banned the watching of the “The Jerry Springer Show” in the jury assembly room of the Long Beach Courthouse. “People aren’t complaining like they were before,” said jury coordinator Helen Alaniz. “We considered the show inappropriate when it was so violent.”

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BLACK AND BLUE ON THE RED LINE: Members of the media, plus Mayor Riordan and other dignitaries, packed themselves into a usually uncrowded Red Line car on Friday. The intrepid pioneers were making the inaugural run from Hollywood and Vine to Vermont and Sunset, and it was almost impossible for anyone to move. Afterward, Riordan joked, “I was afraid the Subway Riders Union would sue us for overcrowding this morning.”

The mayor was referring to a federal suit, which has been brought by the Bus Riders Union against the MTA. Next stop?

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ALOHA! The way the earth is always shifting around here makes it difficult to keep track of what’s where. For example, readers Jeff Hecox, Morris Schneider and Harry Holton noticed an ad that indicated Hawaii is now a county in California (see accompanying).

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DOES THAT MAKE HIM GOV. RIORDAN? Good thing that California has annexed Hawaii. Amy Wallen of Del Mar read a postcard description that gave the impression Los Angeles has seceded from the state (see accompanying). (Did the San Fernando Valley come along?)

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IF THAT ISN’T THE PITS: A young woman walked into the Los Feliz branch library and asked to see the Brad Pitt After-School Study Center. She had read about it in a blurb in The Times’ Sunday magazine, not realizing that writer Leilah Bernstein was making a joke. The library does, in fact, boast the Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center, and senior librarian Pearl Yonezawa offered to show her that. But the Pitt fan glumly declined.

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CALL ME MOBY: The Brad Pitt inquiry was only one of many offbeat requests received by the Los Feliz librarians lately. Others include: a photo of Jesus Christ, a novel by Pearl Duck (instead of Buck), a biography about “Charles Mange, a king or something” (Charlemagne), information about a dog named Rod Wheeler (Rottweiler), and a novel by Moby Dick.

“The student was insistent that Moby Dick had written a book,” Yonezawa said. “We felt like suggesting something like ‘Cooking With Ahab’ instead.”

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TEN YEARS AGO: Some tourists waiting in line to experience “Earthquake: The Big One” on June 12, 1989, at Universal Studios thought the action had started before they got inside. Reason: A magnitude 4.5 quake struck. While some tourists outside grew nervous, those already inside the attraction’s subway station set “didn’t feel anything,” a spokeswoman said. Why? They were experiencing a simulated 8.3 shaker and, she added, “a 4.5 quake doesn’t really compare to an 8.3.”

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L.A. TEST: Warren Bacon sent along some selections from “How to Tell When You’re in Los Angeles,” a list floating on the Internet:

* Your child’s third-grade teacher has two pierced ears, a nose ring and is named Breeze. And you need to ask if the teacher is male or female.

* If you speak about “urban transit,” you’re besieged by attractive young women who want to “channel.”

* A really great parking space can move you to tears.

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THAT NAME AGAIN: Pat R. sent along the Red Baron’s Gilded Age publication, which advertised a sale of several vintage cars. Included was a 1930 Duesenberg described thusly: “William Randolph Hearst originally purchased this car for his lover, Hollywood actress Monica Davies.”

Actually it was Marion Davies. Not every famous mistress has the first name Monica.

miscelLAny:

The list here of tattoo parlors with wacky names brought a note from Carl Dombek, who said his favorite slogan at such emporiums is: “Done While You Wait.”

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Steve Harvey can sometimes 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.