Bad omen? A colleague of ours, put...

Bad omen? A colleague of ours, put on hold after phoning the offices of Rebuild L.A., was surprised to hear a recording of “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

They fracture us: On Monday, the national edition of the New York Times published an ominous page one article that was headlined, “Scientists See New Perils After California Temblors.” Even more ominously, in a portion of Monday’s press run, the second half of the Los Angeles-datelined story disappeared.

When Only in L.A. called the New York Times to complain as an outraged reader--a fun role to play, for a change--we were told a “printing error” was to blame.

By the way, in the affected papers, the story ended this way: “Califor-”

Yup, split California in half.

List of the day: A City Council committee has endorsed a proposal for a ballot measure that would limit future mayors to two consecutive four-year terms. Of course, during this pueblo’s colorful lifetime, there have been several mayors who wouldn’t have had to concern themselves with a two-term limit:

* Arthur Harper (1906-1909)--Resigned from office amid charges that he was taking payoffs from gambling casinos and was often inebriated in brothels.

* Charles Sebastian (1915-1916)--Resigned after the publication of letters revealing an adulterous love affair. Previously, he had been found not guilty on a morals charge while holding another city office--police chief.

* Frank L. Shaw (1933-1938)--Recalled from office after revelations of widespread corruption in government. His brother/bagman Joe Shaw was convicted of 66 counts of bribery and the selling of patronage positions.

Spies everywhere: The incident that broke open the Frank Shaw corruption investigation, by the way, was the car-bombing of Harry Raymond, a private investigator. Raymond had been looking into the activities of a secret LAPD spy squad. (Now, where have we heard about a police spy squad before?)

Police Lt. Earl Kynette was sent to San Quentin for the attempt on Raymond’s life. Kynette was the head of the spy squad.

Which reminds us: Former Police Chief Daryl F. Gates now feels pressure on two fronts. It’s bad enough that a new book, “L.A. Secret Police: Inside the LAPD Elite Spy Network,” questions the integrity of his administration. But, worse, if some of the most serious charges in “L.A. Secret Police” prove correct, it could also steal away potential purchasers of Gates’ book, “Chief.”

A compliment, we’re sure: We wanted to thank Monroe Morgan of Santa Monica for the not-quite-overwhelming note of praise. We’ve designated the note our Photo of the Day--just to make sure that Morgan sees it.

miscelLAny:

The Red Light Abatement Act, passed by the Los Angeles City Council in 1913, banished bawdy houses. One of the most notorious red-light areas was in the vicinity of City Hall and the downtown courthouse.