DWP Wants Fans to Root, Root, Root for It--but What Game Is It Playing?

Atitle that won’t hold water? You may have read that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is under the scrutiny of state Senate investigators over its trading and marketing practices, including alleged “ricochet” maneuvers in which power is exported out of the state so that it can be bought back at a higher price.

This comes at a time when the DWP is airing commercials on L.A. Dodger broadcasts in which it says that it’s “L.A.’s home team too.” Yes, but just what game are you playing, DWP?

Off-season work, perhaps? If you are wondering what Santa’s helpers do the rest of the year, Barbara Lewin of Valencia may have found the answer in Saugus (see photo).

Four-legged hurlers: I remember a short story about a horse named Jones that played third base. But a reader found an ad for some mutts that can play another position (see accompanying).

Unclear on the concept: While we’re on the subject of dogs, athletic and otherwise, Sara Meric of Santa Monica saw an ad that probably meant to use the term “removal” rather than “restoration” (see accompanying).

Hey, that’s the smell of roses, not petroleum! The FBI sent an advisory to its field office in Los Angeles, reporting that uncorroborated intelligence suggested that terrorists might attack oil refineries in Pasadena. But, Associated Press said, agents here “determined there were no refineries in Pasadena, Calif.”

Whoops! Agents later determined that the intelligence was referring to Pasadena, Texas.

Two nations separated by a common language: In Stratford-upon-Avon, near the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, William Fawcett of Tujunga found a phrase that I haven’t heard American drivers use (see photo). Or Shakespeare, for that matter.

But I do believe that the Bard wrote, “Parking is such street sorrow.” Or maybe that was San Francisco columnist Herb Caen.

Summer hazards: The Laguna News-Post said a couple who were “renting a house and appeared to be unfamiliar with the locks called police when they were unable to get out of the bedroom. Police responded to assist them.”

What I did over the summer: I was slathering on suntan lotion at my son’s baseball camp when a foul ball rolled my way. I picked it up and started to throw the ball to the coach, forgetting how slippery my hand was. The ball flew out of my hand behind me and, as I reached for it, I toppled backward in my chair into a fence.

“Are you OK?” the worried coach asked, wondering whether I’d be the first parent carried out on a stretcher. Later, I mentioned the incident to my son and he laughed heartily. I guess that’s a good sign.

miscelLAny: Continuing our series on the second lives of building signs, Tim Bamford of Rancho Park wrote: “Thirty years ago, there was a slot-racing track on Washington Boulevard called ‘Classic Speedways.’ Today, it’s a laundromat called ‘Classic Speedwash.’ ”

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, 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.