All Units Dispatched to Bear a Hand
Trapping a bear is no simple operation in L.A.
Especially a toy bear.
It required a task force made up of Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol, and the Department of Water and Power the other day. The multi-agency army was dispatched to Sherman Oaks to confront a stuffed creature wrapped around a power line above the Ventura Freeway.
The unofficial mascot of the 101 had been flapping in the wind for weeks, though how it got there is a mystery. One theory is that it had previously been attached to a fugitive kite.
Some commuters complained at the continuing presence of Ventubear, as some called it. “I think people were tired of seeing it,” said Steve Palma of Caltrans.
The bear, which offered no resistance, was removed in about 10 minutes by a DWP worker in a bucket truck while a CHP officer held traffic at bay.
“It had been out in the elements for a long time,” said DWP spokesman Walter Zeisl. “It wasn’t something you’d want to give to a child.”
The bear went into permanent hibernation in a trash bin.
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PERHAPS THEY’LL BE SALUTED BY 19TH CENTURY FOX: Gloria Krauss of L.A. received a flier from a Palm Springs resort that is looking forward to the advent of the 20th century (see accompanying).
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FAMOUS FILM SCHOOLS: In the new movie “Jawbreaker,” there’s a school called Reagan High. Here are some other fictional institutions of higher and lower learning with catchy names:
* Rydell High: “Grease” (1978), honoring rock star Bobby Rydell.
* Marion Barry High: “High School High” (1996), named after the ex-mayor of Washington.
* West Beverly Hills High: TV’s “Beverly Hills, 90210” (actually filmed at Torrance High)
* Thomas Dewey High: TV’s “Growing Pains”
* Crunchem Hall: Terrifying elementary school attended by title star of “Matilda” (1996)
And, finally:
* Malibu U: In 1967 TV series of same name, starring Ricky Nelson as the dean.
You have to admit that’s a hilarious concept--a university in Malibu.
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L.A. VERSE: Cowboy poet Tom Greene divides his time between L.A and Amarillo, Texas, where “I save horses from illegal slaughterhouses and raise assorted animals.” He contributed the following:
It’s not easy being a cowboy
in this no horse town
where if you want a friend
best get a hound
and I get nothin’ but stares and scorn
when I tell my wranglers
L.A.’s where I was raised and born
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REPAIRMEN MUST MAKE EVEN MORE THAN PLUMBERS: Philip Weiner of L.A. was driving west on Melrose Avenue when “a beautiful Rolls-Royce pulled alongside me and a young man in the passenger seat began gesticulating wildly. Did I know him? Did he know me? Then he pointed at the window, rolling it down. I rolled mine down. ‘Hey,’ the young man yelled loudly, pointing to my car. ‘You have a bad dent in your fender. I can fix it cheaply.’
“The light changed. I rolled up my window and pulled away. Only in L.A. can you get an offer from a passenger in a Rolls-Royce to fix a fender dent cheaply.”
That’s life in this many-horsepower town.
miscelLAny:
After spotting a marquee offering lessons in fighting moths (see photo), Noel Anenberg of Encino wrote, “And we were worried about Killer Bees!”
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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.