In Laguna Beach, Police Have a Lot of Clout Over the Residents’ Dress Code

Those police crisis negotiators can handle anything. Take the case of the man seen running down a Laguna Beach street in his underwear near midnight. “He was told by officers to put his clothes back on,” the Coastline Pilot reported, “which he did.”

Speaking of showings: Today’s unreal estate items (see accompanying) include:

* A mansion with some less-than-exciting suites (from Bud Craine).

* A house that seems to be lacking in style (from Greg Kuczynski).

* And, for prospective home buyers in Silver Lake, two comforting signs that speak of a quiet neighborhood (photos by Jackson Sleet).

Someone should stay after school for that: A friend of mine was watching a recent meeting of the Los Angeles Unified School Board on KLCS-TV when he was surprised to hear that one agenda item was billed as “Adult Entertainment.” Someone checked and discovered it was supposed to say “Adult Education.” I doubt if there’s room in the budget for adult entertainment, anyhow.

Stupid criminal tricks: The Montecito Journal said that some time after an off-duty officer saw “a motorist smoking a ‘bong’ style water pipe” on the 101, a patrol car pulled over the driver. The suspect asked why he was stopped and was told that it was because there was a warrant out for his arrest -- and he had been smoking marijuana behind the wheel. On the latter charge, the driver exclaimed, “But that was way back there!”

Location, location, location: A colleague noticed that all the handicapped spots at Edison Field were taken at an Angels game, so a car with a handicapped permit had centered itself in two adjacent spaces, where it received a ticket from an Anaheim cop.

Might have had something to do with the fact that a sign in one of the half-occupied spaces said it was reserved for Mayor Curt Pringle.

Reminded me of the time in much younger days when I sneaked into a club level seat at Dodger Stadium. Immediately a guard came over to shoo me away. Indignantly, I asked why he didn’t even bother to ask me for my ticket. He informed me the seat belonged to Dodger exec Al Campanis and I was outta there!

El Lay vs. Noo Yawk (cont.): “When I moved out here from the East Coast in the mid-’60s,” wrote Lew Flint of Studio City, “there were freeways signs indicating ‘breakdown’ lanes along the shoulders. I remember how impressed I was with this progressive state and their concern with the emotional state of the stressed-out motorist.”

MiscelLAny: Among the historical tidbits in Patti Pietschmann’s updated edition of “Access L.A.” is this:

“1912 -- The first gas station in the country opens at the corner of Grand Avenue and Washington Boulevard.” And that was the last day its restroom was clean.

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.