Matt Weinstock, May 27, 1959

Posted on May 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

May 27, 1959, Justice

Check out this font. How about that G in "judge?"

Police File Trouble

Matt Weinstock A
television station's mishandling of confidential information from
criminal files in the Police Dept.'s record room has complicated the
lives and labors of those hard-working, hard-bitten police reporters.

It
had been common practice for reporters to ask for "the package" on a
person arrested as a suspect in a current case to learn if he had any
prior arrests, what they were and whether he had served time in prison.

Now,
the "beat" reporters can't see such facts because a news agency
provided information from a "package" marked "Confidential" to a TV
station, which then broadcast it.

ONLY SPECIALLY accredited reporters had been allowed to inspect such records of past crimes; suddenly even they were banned.

May 27, 1959, Poison Today,
Chief Parker recommended amendment of the Municipal Code to open the
police records to accredited members of the press, radio and TV.

He
asked the Police Commission to request the city attorney to draft an
amendment which would give him authority to release the records to
newsmen.

::

LAST
Saturday, with 900 guests aboard for a brief cruise, the 17,500-ton
cruiser Toledo, first of its type to be converted to launch guided
missiles, dropped anchor a mile off Avalon.

And while the visitors were served chicken salad, Adm. Goldsborough
S. Patrick dropped a fishing line off the admiral's porch and almost
immediately hauled in a nice flounder, which 10 minutes later was
served to him for lunch. Does it wherever he goes, according to the
scuttlebutt.

::

A GROUP OF Hollywood
writers was discussing the pitfalls of the profession and one old plot
carpenter recalled the time he rewrote a movie script 18 times, which
he believed was a record.

When he wearily turned it in the
producer, a difficult man to please because he never was sure what he
wanted, pronounced, "I liked the first one better."

The writer returned to his office in despair, thinking of all the work that had gone down the drain. Came the reprieve.

"I thought that would happen," his secretary said, "so I saved it." She received the biggest box of candy in the world.

::

THERE IS A general reluctance among auto dealers to talk about sales tax, but Bill Sanella of Burbank doesn't mind. He thinks it's unfair and he says so.

Here's
an example in round figures. You select a $3,000 car. You are allowed
$2,000 on the car you turn in. Actual cost: $1,000. But you must pay
sales tax on $3,000, $120, instead of the tax on $1,000, $40. Why? Ask
the Board of Equalization.

::

A TRUMPET
player in the orchestra at the Bolshoi Ballet sounded a sour note
during a fanfare Saturday and moments later a dancer took a bad fall.
As she bravely picked herself up Em Johnson's wife leaned over and
whispered to him, "It'll be Siberia for those two!"

::

AROUND TOWN —
Someone forgot to remove the yellow "witch hats" — the rubber cones
which provide an extra traffic lane during the rush hours — on Olympic
Blvd. one recent morning and they remained there until around 1 p.m.
with several sensational near misses. Two cars traveling in opposite
directions almost had a beaut of a head-on collision at Catalina. Shows
how dependent we are on even synthetic direction markers in our
headline plunge along life's precarious highway, said he, as the sun
set in the west … Sudden thought: Isn't it amazing how fast people
forget about smog when the air is clear?"

::

MISCELLANY — Tom Manix
asked a neighbor lady what she thought about Proposition 2, referring,
of course, to yesterday's election. She replied, "I haven't heard your
first proposition yet" … JayGurey on the phone: "Wasn't that a terrible thing about Adam and Eve? Never had a childhood"

Unknown's avatar

About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
This entry was posted in Columnists, Matt Weinstock. Bookmark the permalink.