Billboard May Be a Sign That Network Ad Execs Are in the Dark

A contributor to the media Web site https://www.ronfineman.com says the energy crisis would be partly alleviated if CBS darkened the Sunset Boulevard ad that hails “the teaming of Jonathan Elias and Ann Martin on the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news. Er . . . that anchor arrangement was extinguished months ago.�

I might add that it always irritates me when there’s confusion over who’s anchoring what. When I turn on a local newscast, I want to know whom I can expect to see narrating that hour’s freeway car chase.

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THIS WON’T HURT A BIT: Welcome to this column’s special health section (there must be some way to siphon off the popularity of TV’s “ER� show).

Today’s exhibits (see accompanying) include:

* A hospital spotted by Vic Pallos of Glendale that, in his words, offers “a new branch of specialized medicine. Finally, there’s a medical center that caters to many of your readers.�

* A sentimental ticket seller who will take into consideration the condition of a would-be buyer’s heart (submitted by Charlotte Fournier of Laguna Woods).

* And, finally, in the category of one-stop shopping, a loan company for those who need some dental construction work next door (snapped by Oscar Rivera).

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MALE MILESTONE: When Ryan Hirota was approached about being president of a Long Beach lawyers group, he first surveyed the members to see if any would be upset.

He took the unusual precaution because the group was the Women Lawyers of Long Beach. Assured there would be no protest, Hirota agreed to become the group’s first male president.

Despite the name, about one-third of the members of the Women Lawyers of Long Beach are, in fact, males. The name has not been changed, Hirota said, because the group’s main goal is still encouraging more women to join the profession.

Hirota said he has encountered a few jokes--�things like am I into cross-dressing?�

--from colleagues. Male colleagues, of course.

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DECONSTRUCTING HARRY: After seeing the photo here Thursday, several readers wrote that the Harry Truman star on a local hotel’s Presidential Walk contained a second error. (The first: listing him as a Republican, of all things.)

“His middle initial should not have a period after the S because Truman had no middle name, just an initial,� said Rick Vetter. Steve McMullen, Bruce Stein and Bob Riggs, among others, concurred.

And, sure enough, in his Truman biography, author David McCullough wrote that the parents of the future president were undecided over what middle name to give him and “compromised with the letter S. [It] actually stood for nothing.�

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Harvey’s e-mail address: https://[email protected]