His Bid to Be On Time May Have Him Doing Time

A Paramount teenager allegedly stole a car in order to attend a meeting.

With his parole officer.

On the way, though, he was chased and caught by an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy, according to City Talk, Paramount’s newsletter.

Asked why he stole the car, the young man explained: “The bus would have taken too long.”

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MYSTERY CARGO: Another character in always-exciting Paramount apparently gambled that he was on to something big when he allegedly stole a big truck with a couple of trailers. And what did the loot turn out to be? About $20,000 worth of oatmeal, authorities said. The thief later deserted the truck, without taking as much as a bowlful.

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RUMBLING RIGHT ALONG: Kent Bridwell of West L.A. saw a big rig with a brave spray-painted warning aimed at crazed soccer dads and moms. The warning said: “I Have No Fear of SUVs.”

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GROUPIES WERE PROBABLY SCARCE: A reader spotted the name of a onetime popular rock group in a notice about a parking garage degreasing downtown (see accompanying) and commented: “Sounds like those guys found real jobs for a change.”

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IMMORTALIZED, IN A WAY: The above item prompted Times Calendar writer Steve Hochman to recall Mr. Mister, a popular band of a decade or so ago. “One time I was in a supermarket,” he said, “and I saw a device that sprayed water on the vegetables. It was called Mr. Mister.”

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PREMATURE BRAGGING? Harry Salit of Pasadena came upon a claim in an ad and wondered if maybe the company couldn’t have waited another year to talk about its streak (see accompanying).

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IS A GUARD EMU PREFERABLE TO A GUARD DOG? A while back, I received a sighting of a woman walking her llama in Pacific Palisades. Titus Levi tells me he saw a woman walking her emu in El Segundo. And for mass transit, he nominates the guy he saw walking eight Rottweilers while on in-line skates (the guy, not the Rottweilers).

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HONOR ROLL: After an item here about some of the illustrious alumni of Pasadena City College, English professor Dennis Sanchez of East Los Angeles College wrote to point out that alumni of his school include actor Edward James Olmos, L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, former Raider football star Ben Davidson and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles).

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GIVE IT A REST: Nov. 20 is the date of the usually much anticipated cross-town football duel between USC and UCLA, which both have miserable 3-6 records. I think the two schools should agree to call off the game this year. The matchup is an insult to a storied rivalry. And less exciting than oatmeal.

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RECOGNITION AT LAST: I received an e-mail from a man who said he was forced to flee with $12 million from the African nation of Sierra Leone to Ivory Coast, where he’s currently residing.

Having heard of me “courtesy of an international business bureau here in Abidjan (Ivory Coast),” he said he wants to transfer the money to my account for safe-keeping. And I will naturally be paid “a suitable percentage.”

I can’t put my finger on it but something about the offer seems just a tiny bit suspicious.

miscelLAny:

Public radio’s KCSN-FM (88.5) wants to call attention to its station letters during its current pledge drive ([818] 885-KCSN). So it held a Crosby, Stills and Nash marathon. I wonder if there’s a KMAW somewhere staging a Men at Work marathon. Or at least a Men at Work garage degreasing.

Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@ latimes.com.