Fire Official Recovering From Cookie Inhalation
After the big wildfire in Orange County broke out, a Times researcher phoned a U.S. Forest Service staffer and was startled to hear choking sounds on the other end. From smoke inhalation? Not exactly. “I’m eating a cookie,” the staffer said apologetically.
Ominous signs: Joel and Angie Hanson of Whittier spotted an area for back flips and flipped-out backs, while Tony Dauer of Hawthorne found an ironic location for a health center (see photos).
Meanwhile, Patricia Toll of Encino came upon a truly eye-catching menu item that she said “would be perfect for Halloween” (see accompanying).
The romance of kitchen sinks, potholes and USC football: In honor of Valentine’s Day, the L.A. Downtown News published readers’ “love-line” dedications, which included these tender missives:
* “If cleanliness is next to godliness, then I must have married a goddess. You mop my world and squeegee my windows.”
* “Move-n and complete the remodel, and be mine forever.”
* “Happy Valentines to my co-workers in Street Maintenance Division.”
* “No SC 3-Peat, But We’re on 5-Peat.”
* And, this sad appeal: “I sold my heart on Craigslist ‘cause you left.”
Which reminds me: Patricia Mooney of Torrance wondered if one Valentine’s Day special was for two-timing guys (see photo).
L.A. Barb of the Week: Judy Griswold of Rowland Heights came across it in the mystery novel “The Cat Who Talked Turkey,” which is set in fictional Moose County somewhere in the Northeast. A parking lot has been excavated because a pirate chest of treasure was rumored to lie below. One character relates how thousands of onlookers gathered, but the chest turned out to be empty.
“How did the crowd react?” asks a second character. “Did they riot?” Answers the first: “They thought it was a good joke! This is Moose County, not Los Angeles.”
Professional driver -- do not attempt: The crime log of the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise reported that “a driver was seen speeding into a neighborhood, exiting his car to change his clothes while hidden behind a tree, and then leaving the area.”
miscelLAny: In case you’re wondering what happened to winter, weathercaster Fritz Coleman of KNBC Channel 4 explained: “We had so many complaints about it last year that we decided to excise the worst three or four months.”
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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.