The first exorcism of a street:When the...

The first exorcism of a street:

When the 1997 Thomas Bros. Guide for L.A./Orange counties appeared last October, its cover jubilantly announced, “666 New Streets This Year!”

Funny thing. A later edition of the same map book says there are only 665 new streets this year.

So what happened? Some customers phoned the Irvine-based company to complain about the “666”--the number that some believe is the mark of the devil mentioned in the Bible’s Book of Revelations.

So Thomas Bros. reprinted--we almost said “repented”--the cover.

“It’s in our best interests for our customers to feel confident with the use of our product,” said a company spokesperson.

Oddly enough, Devils Canyon Mountainway and Devils Punchbowl Road are still in the index of the map book’s L.A. section, while Devilwood Circle still casts its spell in the Orange County section.

We were going to ask Thomas Bros. why but then thought, oh, the heck with it.

TRAFFIC EVERY 2 ITEMS! By the way, welcome to the new format of Only in L.A. In order to compete with all-news radio stations KFWB and KNX, we’ll be interrupting the column after every item to bring you a traffic tidbit.

YOU WOULD NEED BACKUP FOR THAT DRIVING MANEUVER: A bumper sticker spotted in South Pasadena said: “Cover Me--I’m Going to Change Lanes.”

NOW BACK TO THE COLUMN: Remember the first pro football team in L.A.? We were reminded of it while listening to an old episode of “The Adventures of Philip Marlowe” on KNX radio. Private eye Marlowe, after being beaten up, complains: “I felt like the L.A. Dons--water boy and all--had run over my face.”

Yes, the Dons, the All-America Conference team, played here in the 1940s. And died here, honorably. The team folded--it didn’t move away.

TRAFFIC BREAK: Our discussion of the celebrity intersections of GREGORY (Way)--PECK (Drive) in Beverly Hills and ANTONIO (Parkway)--(Avenida de Las) BANDERAS in Orange County prompted a note from Bill Welsh of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

“On George Burns’ 99th birthday,” he recalled, “the L.A. City Fire Department responded to an alarm at the intersection of George Burns Road and Gracie Allen Drive. Capt. Steve Ruda at Station 27 in Hollywood later showed me the Teletype dispatch and asked if it was possible for George to autograph it. I took it over to an office George had in Hollywood, got it autographed and it’s now at Station 27.”

LONG BEACH LOVERS: The Valentine’s Day recommendation of Beach Buzz, Long Beach’s city newsletter, is Gondola Getaway, featuring gondoliers who “sing out sweet serenades as they glide Italian-style” through the narrow canals of Naples Island.

Always-romantic Only in L.A. might add that just a couple of miles north on Pacific Coast Highway is the Gondolier Motel.

miscelLAny:

Tom Bratter reports a sighting of a panhandler on Broadway whose sign said, “Please Help Me Buy the Dodgers.” Clever devil.