A Valley boat ride

James Herman took this shot at a North Hollywood carnival a few weeks ago.

Photo: James Herman / Flickr

Forever Dodger blue

As this video shows, it's not just Lakers fans who take their loyalty to colorful extremes.

--Veronique de Turenne

Video: Rich Connell / Los Angeles Times

Do this tonight: Witness a girl fight or two

Good afternoon, readers.

Tonight at 8 p.m., defending Roller Derby champions, The Sirens, are pitted against the Tough Cookies on the brutal track of the Doll Factory. As described in The Guide, "L.A.'s favorite scarred, skirted band of skating maniacs will attempt to hip-check, knuckle-scrape and eye-gouge their way to gladiatorial greatness."

Two live bands, The Automatic Music Explosion and Swords of Fatima will provide tunes. Blood will be shed.

--Bettie Rinehart

Birthday boy: Clint Eastwood

It's 78 candles on the cake today for one of the true living icons of Hollywood, Mr. Clinton Eastwood Jr., better known to film fans as the outlaw Josey Wales, the Man With No Name from the spaghetti westerns and, of course, Harry Callahan, the San Francisco cop with good aim and a bad attitude. I've spent some time recently with the actor and filmmaker for a Calendar article on the bloody history of Dirty Harry and learned firsthand that even though Eastwood is a serene and warm fellow, his decades of cinematic menace still makes people nervous.

Eastwood and I were at the Warner Bros. lot a few weeks ago and he was headed for an editing bay to put final touches on "Changeling," which opens in the U.S. in November. I mentioned to him that some of his old props and costumes were recently added to a display for tourists who pay for the V.I.P. tour of studio lot in Burbank. That piqued his interest, so a security guard let us step in through a side door. There (not too far from the statuette from "The Maltese Falcon") Eastwood checked out a model of the plane from "Firefox," costumes from "Bridges of Madison County" and other items. We were standing behind three students visiting from Florida State University when Eastwood smiled and said, "I remember this stuff." They heard his voice, turned and almost fell over. Eastwood winked at the visitors from Tallahassee, turned and headed off. One of the college kids looked at me and, for some reason, acted like he had just dodged a bullet. "I thought he was going to hit me!"

-- Geoff Boucher

Hearts of the city

Is downtown L.A. getting too glitzy for noir? Jessica Garrison attended a meeting on that question organized by some Los Angeles crime writers and tenant organizers concerned about the impact of gentification on both literature and people. Garrison writes:

Meanwhile, the forces of redevelopment also push at noir writers: Without the gritty city that is the setting for their fiction, what would they write about? Or, as the tenants' group put it: "Can you imagine Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe hanging out at a gastro-pub? Or Dashiell Hammett writing 'The Maltese Falcon' from a luxury loft?"

Downtown might be going yuppie. But there's still evidence of the soulless city that Chandler loved. Consider this from Richard Winton:

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on Friday settled allegations that it left a paraplegic man crawling around downtown Los Angeles' skid row in a hospital gown and with a colostomy bag by agreeing to pay $1 million and be monitored by a former U.S. attorney for up to five years. ... The case involving paraplegic Gabino Olvera, 54, came to symbolize the problem of dumping patients on skid row, an area that for decades has been plagued by homelessness and drug-related problems. Olvera, wearing a soiled hospital gown and a broken colostomy bag, was found in February 2007 crawling in a gutter downtown. Witnesses said they saw a Hollywood Presbyterian van leave the man on the street. They said they shouted at the female driver of the van, "Where's his wheelchair? Where's his walker?"

Meanwhile, is the gentrification boom moving to Olvera Street? The Downtown News reports merchants there should expect big rent hikes.

-Shelby Grad

Photo: Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times

Steve Harvey: Unclear on the concept

Mathy Wasserman of Hidden Hills sent along a shot of a billboard that she said was "seen (or not seen) in Sherman Oaks." Come to think of it, a more appropriate place for the ad would be Hidden Hills.

Read more Only in L.A. columns by Steve Harvey.

Photo: Mathy Wasserman

Do this today: Culver City Art Walk

Good morning, readers.

And a very happy birthday to living legend Clint Eastwood, who is 78 years old today. Way to go, Clint!

If you haven't explored the new and improved Culver City yet, with its cute downtown and lovely architectural touches, today is a good day to do just that. Culver City Art Walk starts at noon and goes on until 8 p.m. The city's many galleries (which include a few of the most young and exciting in L.A.) open their doors to the public, lured through town by live jazz. And don't miss the city's brilliant, strange jewel on Venice Boulevard, The Museum of Jurassic Technology.

Today is also the final chance to see the exhibit of Howard L. Bingham's 1974 photographs of Muhammad Ali, captured in Zaire during the time surrounding his renowned heavyweight world championship "Rumble in the Jungle" with George Foreman. That's at M+B Gallery.

-- Bettie Rinehart

Displaced Angeleno: Midwest Swing

I went to the Indy 500 last weekend and wound up staying an extra couple of days in Chicago. If you spend too long in L.A., it's easy to get culture shock when you go to a place where "paparazzi" just sounds like another kind of meat topping for your pizza (or "Magic Special" -- more in a moment).

It's not that I haven't been to Chicago or Indiana before, but this time I got quite a taste. For those who haven't experienced the heartland in a while or recently moved here to become a Hollywood star [snicker], enjoy these observations and pictures of our flyover friends.

-- Adam Rose (no, not pictured), reporting from somewhere really, really flat.

Remembering RFK, loving SATC, O.C. foodies rejoice — it's last links

Reviews be damned — "Sex and the City" is girls' night out. L.A. Times

Three Californians are in the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals! (And you can watch them on KABC-TV Channel 7 at  8 tonight.) The Home Room

Remembering RFK. The Daily Mirror

What's in a name? Just a hyperlink when it's a book title this naughty. Jacket Copy

A (tongue-in-cheek) call to boycott Dunkin' Donuts. MetBlogs

A Duarte man dies after suffering a heart attack during a City Council meeting. Foothill Cities Blog

Beyond the food court: more gourmet restaurants are headed for Orange County. LA Eater

—Jesus Sanchez & Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times

A moment in Iraq when it didn't matter who was winning

Maggie Nelson shares another photo of her tour of duty in Iraq, showing, as she puts it, "soldiers from the U.S. Army's 3-6, 1-10th Mtn. Div., building relations in a game of soccer with full battle rattle, during a four day operation in Kirkuk, Iraq."

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: SSG Samuel Bendet / Your Scene

When lunch is more than just lunch

Is lawyer and former state Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg looking to make another run for citywide office in Los Angeles? Our own David Zahniser goes to the source and gets some answers. Well, sort of:        

      That question came up after the San Fernando Valley resident was spotted Friday in San Pedro at the Dalmatian-American Club's monthly fish luncheon, a multi-course feast attended by community types and bigwigs around the Los Angeles harbor area.

      The running joke is that politicians who live north of the 105 Freeway tend to show up at the luncheon once they're running for office. Hertzberg disagreed, saying he simply wanted to reconnect with some friends in San Pedro that he met during his unsuccessful 2005 mayoral campaign. But he also said he hasn't decided whether to be a candidate in next year's municipal election — either for city attorney or for mayor.

      "I'm not ruling either one out," he said. And now that the June primary is almost over, "it's appropriate now to start thinking about it," he added.

      That makes Hertzberg the latest person to flirt with the possibility of a run against the incumbent, Mayor Antonio Villariaogsa. Mall developer Rick Caruso offered a similarly coy message to The Times this week.

      If Hertzberg runs for city attorney, he will have as an opponent Villaraigosa's closest ally, Councilman Jack Weiss. Another likely foe in the city attorney's race would be lawyer Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich, who held a campaign fund-raiser Wednesday hosted by L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and county Supervisor Don Knabe.

      Trutanich held his event — where else? — at the Dalmatian-American Club in San Pedro.

Talk about a fish story.

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

 

Building a trap for unlicensed contractors

The $10 billion that Californians spend annually on home remodeling and construction is a major boost for the economy that supports countless businesses and workers. It's also a major attraction for  unlicensed contractors. That's why state regulators have organized sting operations to try and catch them. Times staff writer Robert J. Lopez witnessed a sting operation last March in Van Nuys and videotaped it. His full story about one woman's ordeal with an unlicensed contractor will appear in Sunday's Real Estate section.

"It's safe to say that there are thousands of people out there breaking the law by contracting without a license," said Pamela Mares, a spokeswoman for the Contractors State License Board. "There's a lot of money out there, and they know it."

-- Jesus Sanchez

Video: Robert J. Lopez / Los Angeles Times

Say hello to tan lines -- San Onofre's nude beach is about to be busted

Clothing-optional for decades, the nude beach at San Onofre is about to get a visit from the (fully-dressed, we're betting) law. The O.C. Register has the skinny:

Trail 6 is a secluded area abutting Camp Pendleton property where beachgoers can let it all hang out – literally. The 1,000-foot beach, one of few "clothing-optional" beaches – with a lax approach to nudity, has been a safe haven for "naturists" for decades.

That might change in the next month, as the state sets out to crack down on nudity at the beach, in a move that has some longtime locals fuming and worrying about where they'll go. State Parks will start an educational period Sunday, warning beachgoers of the change, and start citing July 1, officials said.

What's a nudist to do? Some answers here. (And yes, there's a naked derriere on the site.) And the photo? It's of Peter J. McConville, au natural in the 1940s, as befitting the founder of SoCal's first nudist resort near Lake Elsinore.

-- Veronique de Turenne

Archival photo: Los Angeles Times

 

The baby is fine and the view is great!

This weekend's closing of the maternity ward at South Coast Medical Center after nearly 50 years has brought back fond memories for many mothers, who recall their hospital stay, staff and...killer ocean views. What do you expect from a Laguna Beach hospital perched on a small hill above Coast Highway?  The vistas you would expect from a nearby mansion or luxury resort were mentioned several times by former maternity ward occupants:

"I had a baby at South Coast in January of 1960, and they treated us (new mothers and babies) like royalty," said Nancy Hunt. "The facility was beautiful –- and new -– and the ocean view spectacular."

More comments at the OC Register

-- Jesus Sanchez

Photo: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Just a walk -- and climb and jump -- in the park

Abel (he's on the left) and Abram Arreguin give the equipment on a new playground at Lake Balboa in the Valley a whirl. The Universal Access Playground,  which opened last weekend in the Anthony C. Beilenson Park, features soft surfaces made out of recycled tires.

-- Veronique de Turenne

Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times

A police chase arrest, a Mercedes vs. train and a killer Seal -- it's trouble in paradise

An alleged drunk driver who led police on a pursuit in Pacoima last night is arrested.... An LAPD officer accidentally fires his gun during a sting operation.... A Northern California doctor is held in sexual assaults on a man.... The estate of singer Billie Holliday's husband sues a record company for unpaid royalties.... An LAPD officer pleads not guilty in an alleged drunken brawl while off-duty in Redondo Beach.... A Navy SEAL trainee admits he killed a woman.... Feds arrest a former Bell police officer on suspicion of forcing a woman to have sex with him during a traffic stop.... Killers still at large in the slaying of a Monrovia teen.... A man was in good condition after an Amtrak train demolished his Mercedes-Benz at a San Juan Capistrano railroad crossing.... Two teens were arrested in Mentone after allegedly setting a high school security guard’s truck on fire.... A Corona mother whose son leaped from the back seat of her car was arrested on child endangerment charges for failing to stop and return to pick up her child.... A Lancaster woman who opposed display of the words "In God We Trust" at City Hall wakes up to find her home’s windows covered with the phrase "In God We Trust or ?"

-- Veronique de Turenne & Jesus Sanchez

New audit shows improvement at L.A. City Fire Department

The department still has a way to go on upgrading its disciplinary process, but the new audit released this morning by city controller Laura Chick finds considerable progress under Fire Chief Douglas L. Barry (pictured), who took over the job in January 2007. An audit more than two years ago found evidence of workplace harassment, fear of retaliation and poorly documented investigation procedures. Taxpayers have paid millions of dollars during that period to settle lawsuits against the department that alleged harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

Times staff writer Robert J. Lopez is at the news conference and will file a full story later.

-- Jesus Sanchez

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Political cartoons: dynamite or dinosaurs?

That's at the heart of the debate between widely published and wildly popular cartoonist Daryl Cagle and his neighbor in Woodland Hills, educator and political cartoon expert Bob Scheibel. Who better than Bob Pool to get to the bottom of all this?

Scheibel contends that editorial cartoonists no longer have the free hand -- or the public clout -- that they enjoyed for more than 200 free-wheeling years.

Cagle counters that today's political cartoonists are doing the most significant work in the history of their barbed pen-and-ink profession.

Draw your own conclusions from Bob's full story.

-- Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

That tagger, Buket? Just a drop in the bucket

Some see a storm drain, others see an actual river. To a bunch of taggers, though, the miles of virgin concrete that line the L.A. River are an irresistible canvas. Andrew Blankstein and Richard Winton give the tour:

As the Los Angeles River bends into the vast industrial district east of downtown Los Angeles, it looks less like a waterway than a decaying open-air canvas for taggers.

This largely hidden channel that runs through two rail yards is what authorities describe as the ultimate proving ground for graffiti vandals vying for visibility and reputation.This is not the graffiti you see in alleyways and storefronts. This is tagging on steroids, with monikers big and bold, containing letters that often are as big as garage doors.

The centerpiece is something officials say is the biggest tag they've ever seen: Three block letters that cover a three-story-high wall and run the length of several blocks between the 4th Street and 1st Street bridges. It spells out "MTA" -- Metro Transit Assassins.

They're not using spray cans here, easily stashed out of sight under a coat. They're hauling out gallons of paint, they're using rollers, they're taking hours and even days to do their work.  Get the who, where, why and what's next in the full story.

-- Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Good morning - here's what's happening 5.30.08

Lakers win! (Hey, it's Friday, so we can start with sports.) They're in the Finals now, against either Boston or Detroit. Game 1 on Thursday. Mike Bresnahan's game story here, Bill Plaschke's tone poem here, and more about that Game 4 call from Mark Heisler. And pix!

And as long as we're at it, the much-anticipated "Sex and the City" movie opens today.

OK, now to the serious stuff. Turns out UCLA gave four liver transplants to Japanese "gang figures", including a top crime boss. So? The transplants happened when organs were so scarce, more than 100 people on the waiting list in the L.A. area died. UCLA apparently didn't know about the men's pasts, but the FBI sure did. More on the twists and turns in John M. Glionna and Charles Ornstein's full story.

That Fullerton teacher arrested when police found guns and drugs in his car was actually framed, investigators are saying. Now they're looking for who did it. H.G. Reza has the latest in this strange tale.

Can't smoke at work, can't smoke on the beach, at Dodger Stadium, stores, malls, airplanes, and now, if the state Legislature goes through with it (Senate says yes, Assembly will vote next) landlords will be able to tell you that you can't smoke in your apartment. Patrick McGreevy and Nancy Vogel have the details.

OK, maybe it's not just about the parties. Lots of wheeling and dealing going on at Book Expo this weekend. Josh Getlin explains.

A "mind-boggling" settlement in which you'll get to know your credit score for free, no strings. Kathy M. Kristof shares the good news.

Did disgraced former O.C. Sheriff Michael S. Carona talk about "cleansing" the departments reserve-deputy files of information to hamper an investigation? That's the allegation in a court filing, Stuart Pfeifer and Christine Hanley report.

Forget the point break -- some local surfboard makers are at the breaking point as imports snake their business. Leslie Earnest has the story.

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

So doggone happy

After last night's Lakers win, is there any doubt how the people who belong to this little pug feel today?

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Magg / Your Scene

Oenophiles gather, Bob Dale dies and Hollywood Forever Cemetery on life support -- it's last links *

Forever after at Hollywood Forever? Don't count on it. The glam cemetery, final resting place of such old-school celebs like Peter Lorre, is in big trouble and may not have the cash to carry out up to 100,000 pre-paid funerals, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. (Big thanks to LAist for the link.)

More than 100 dead birds were found outside Lake Arrowhead high school. San Bernardino Sun

Chatsworth charter school closes after cash runs out. Daily News

Time for a new name? Two more furniture stores close at the South Coast Home Furnishings Centre. OC Register

Salud! Wine experts gather in Pomona. SGV Tribune

The man with the bow tie: Longtime San Diego TV personality Bob Dale dies. Union Tribune

Inland Empire remembers 40th anniversary of Robert Kennedy’s visit. San Bernardino Sun

-- Veronique de Turenne & Jesus Sanchez

Photo: Los Angeles Times

* Updated: A previous version of this post said Marilyn Monroe is buried at Hollywood Forever. She is not.

In case you thought BookExpo was about the books...

We're here to tell you that BookExpo America is really about the parties. Sure, there's plenty of talk from bookish types about being "on the floor" — the acres of space inside the Los Angeles Convention Center,  where publishers, authors and panelists are setting up shop. But the most animated conversations are about the social events, the dinner at Lucques or the party at the Chateau, or where, exactly, that "undisclosed location" for Prince's party actually is.

Here's the New York Observer on the topic:

On Friday there's Random House Trade cocktails at Sona with folks like Mr. Rushdie, Curtis Sittenfeld, David Ebershoff. Knopf cocktails are happening concurrently at Comme Ça, with a dinner across the street at Lucques to follow with Barbara Walters, Joseph O'Neil, Dexter Filkins, Arianna Huffington, Anne Rice, Art Spiegelman, and others.

Later on, Grand Central is throwing a party in honor of Ted Turner at Larry King's house in Beverly Hills, and Book Soup, a celebrated indy retailer, is hosting a party for the Ecco Press at Palihouse. Weinstein Books is hosting a big thing at Chateau Marmont that most people we asked were planning on attending, and Atria is having a party for Prince, whose multimedia book they are publishing, at "an undisclosed location."

Then there's the annual New York Review of Books party at the Bel-Air (Mark Danner will be there, also the philanthropist Max Palevsky), and The New Yorker party at Gordon Ramsay's London West Hollywood, which features David Sedaris, John Hodgman, Simon & Schuster publisher David Rosenthal, and Mr. Rushdie again. Also Henry Finder and Leo Carey, who oversee the magazine's books coverage.

Whew, I'm exhausted. And wondering what it'll take to get invited to all the soirees next time.

—Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Bob Carey / Los Angeles Times

And now, a little afternoon froth

The "Sex and the City" movie opens tomorrow and Carina Chocano says it's pretty good.

One of the best things about the movie is how it manages to confound expectations while satisfying them, which seems like an achievement for a movie based on material that had already plumbed every aspect of its characters' lives and tied up its narrative loose ends. But some, of course, remained, and that's where the movie takes off -- will Carrie and Big get married, will Charlotte have a baby, will Miranda and Steve live happily ever after, will Samantha be satisfied with just one man?

The rest of her review is here. Pix from the NY opening are here, and fashion pix here.

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Craig Blankenhorn / New Line Cinema

Throwing the book at Buket

That's the word from our own Andrew Blankstein, who says the prolific tagger and YouTube star arrested by police on Tuesday has been charged with 32 counts of felony vandalism.

Story coming shortly.

--Veronique de Turenne