A Juvenile Crime, That’s for Sure

OK, let the guilty party off with probation . . . this time.

The police log of the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise said “a resident reported a neighbor was throwing dirt into his pool.” An investigation disclosed the culprit “was a 3-year-old.”

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LOGIC CRUMBLES: Don’t know if you’ve heard, but the city honored businessman Wally Amos the other day by designating an intersection in Hollywood as Famous Amos Square.

Square? The guy makes cookies, not brownies. Shouldn’t he be honored with a Famous Amos Circle?

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DINING LANDMARKS: The Amos shrine, on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Formosa Avenue, displays a plaque that states that he “opened the world’s first chocolate chip cookie store in 1975.”

It’s one of many gastronomic firsts claimed by, or attributed to, Southern Californians. Some others:

* Hot fudge sundae (C.C. Brown’s, L.A., 1906)

* Chili size (a hamburger with chili) (Ptomaine Tommy’s, Lincoln Heights, 1920s)

* Chili dog (stand operator Art Elkind, Inglewood, 1935)

* French dip sandwich (Philippe’s, L.A., 1918); claim disputed by Cole’s, downtown L.A.

* The fortune cookie (L.A. noodle manufacturer David Jung, 1916)

* Cobb salad, Shirley Temple cocktail and grapefruit cake (Bob Cobb’s Original Brown Derby, early 1930s)

* The cheeseburger (Rite Spot Cafe, Pasadena, 1920s). Creation also attributed to Kaelin’s restaurant, Louisville, Ky.; Louis Ballast, Denver, Colo.; and, one assumes, thousands of backyard chefs.

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SHIRLEY TEMPLE (CONT.): The Shirley Temple concoction, as you doubtless know, soon acquired an alternate name--the Roy Rogers--for those occasions when it was served to little boys. But not everywhere. Once I was dining in Anaheim Stadium, in the days when the Angels were owned by a certain celluloid cowboy. I saw a waitress serve the drink to a lad and tell him he was getting a “Gene Autry.”

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DRINK UP! (IF YOU DARE): Speaking of firsts, Marilyn Liu of Glendale spotted a digital drink recipe (judging from the last ingredient), while Bev Mulligan of Hawthorne came across a beverage served in a long-necked vessel (see accompanying). Mulligan, who made her discovery in Escondido, wondered if there might be a tie to a nearby business, the Wild Animal Park.

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TRUTH IN ADVERTISING DEPT.: David George of Foothill Ranch in Orange County saw a sign that made no bones about the high price of gasoline (see photo).

miscelLAny:

A group that wants to start a professional league for team bronco-riding is searching for an L.A. franchise sponsor, the L.A. Business Journal says. The group’s name: Major League Bull Riding. Not sure about riders, but there are plenty of good bull-slingers in this town.

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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.