Dornan Faces Beastly Odds in Race

Former Congressman Robert Dornan, who had two bruising (and losing) campaigns against Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), isn’t forgotten in Mexico. Agua Caliente in Tijuana has listed Dornan among the presidential candidates in the racetrack’s Election 2000 betting line. Dornan is given a 999-1 chance of making it to the Oval Office. Hey, he’s making progress.

When the odds were first listed in 1997, he was 1,000-1.

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A MESSAGE TO VISITORS WHO OVERSTAY THEIR WELCOME? At the auction of goods left behind by the Heaven’s Gate suicide cult, an Orange businessman bought a bunk bed for $120. He said he had no plans to resell it. Rather, he’s putting it in his guest bedroom.

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PARDON MY FRENCH: Readers Hazel and Wally Boyle saw a Thanksgiving ad in an unknown language (see photo).

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REAL LONG DISTANCE CALLS: Mention was made of the growing incidence of people talking on cell phones at graveside services in Southern California. Val Rodriguez of Signal Hall sent me a USA Today newspaper story about startled mourners who “fled when a mobile phone went off from inside a grave at a cemetery in western Poland.” Authorities said the device had been interred along with its owner the previous day.

Yeah, good luck convincing the phone company of that when the bill’s due.

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FREEWAY TO FAME? In Robert Ferrigno’s murder mystery “Dead Silent,” which is set in Orange County, a would-be actress named Alison drives to a meeting with a Hollywood honcho only to be stood up. She laments how trying to get her big break is draining her pride--and her gas tank.

“You think I’m happy carting my portfolio around to every production company in L.A., buttering up middle-aged talent coordinators with grabby hands?” she says. “You think I like driving the 91 Freeway after midnight in that piece of [junk] car sounding like it’s ready to throw a rod?”