On Threadbare Evidence, Granddaughter Is Accused

Did the victim find Oreo crumbs in her sewing box? The police log of the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise reports: “A woman reported the theft of her embroidery thread and suspected her granddaughter was the perpetrator.”

UCLA FANS BE DARNED! A slate mailer from the Citizens for Representative Government shows that some Republican candidates have more complex platforms than others (see accompanying). But will the USC booster take a position on whether struggling coach Paul Hackett should be fired?

EVERYONE HAS TO START SOMEWHERE: Actually, there’s more to the campaign of USC student Matt Brown.

The Daily Trojan said that “Brown’s motivations for running include upsetting incumbent and UCLA graduate Gil Cedillo, his desire to stick up for the little guy and the looming threat of unemployment after graduation.

“I need a job; I’m a graduating senior,” Brown said, adding that the position of assemblyman would improve his resume for future employment.

Who knows, maybe there are some people out there who would hire a former politician.

NOT-SO-BIG GAME: But back to USC’s fading football fortunes. Bob Finsten of Palm Springs found an ad in the Desert Sun that might indicate that one fan is so disenchanted with L.A.’s two college football teams that he’s moving away (see accompanying).

A CENTURY OF FLAT TIRES, DEAD BATTERIES AND MISSING KEYS: The Auto Club of Southern California turns 100 on Dec. 13, and here are some historical stops along the way, gleaned from its magazine, Westways:

* 1903: “Don’t try to drive between Burbank and Lankershim. The present road is deep with dust, full of ruts and chuckholes. It is a spring-breaker to most cars.”

* 1909: “Word has come from San Diego that the district attorney has determined that fast racing between L.A. and San Diego must stop. He is said to have deputized a number of farmers residing along the route . . . to keep a watchful eye.”

* 1910: “The Auto Club adopts a resolution urging the L.A. City Council to ban stands selling peanuts and newspapers in order to alleviate downtown traffic congestion.” (Yes, congestion downtown in 1910.)

* 1915: “A.E. Smith of Illinois has conceived the idea of a taxi service between New York and L.A. He not only will attend to the driving but also will carry a valet to look after the baggage. . . . As the business grows, it is said that Mr. Smith proposes to add a manicure and massage service.”

* 1917: “Twenty-three percent of licensed Los Angeles drivers are women, a considerably higher percentage than the national average.”’

miscelLAny:

Writer Elmar Baxter of Huntington Beach spotted a surfer’s winged vehicle on Pacific Coast Highway (see photo). Baxter, fascinated with the driver’s “faith in blind luck and in his fellow motorists, kept him in sight for several miles.” When last seen on the road, Baxter said, the surfer “still had one long board” instead of ending up with “a pair of belly boards and one waxy midriff.”

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.