Orange County’s own Gates, Sheriff Brad, has...

Orange County’s own Gates, Sheriff Brad, has had his share of problems--for instance, in May, he was found in contempt of court for giving some prisoners early jail releases. Given the area’s rivalry with L.A. County, some Orangeites seem amused to see the hot spotlight now focusing on L.A.’s Gates, Police Chief Daryl.

During a closing-night show of “Happy End” at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, a Chicago cop played by Don Took was supposed to say, “The chief isn’t gonna like this,” as he prepared to kick a derelict.

Instead, Took drew the biggest laugh of the night by ad-libbing, “Chief Gates isn’t gonna like this.”

List of the Day:

As a service to all those San Franciscans who love to vacation in L.A., a Bay Area publication called The Nose offers an “L.A. Confidential” map of the “peculiar, bizarre, morbid and mundane” in its current issue. Landmarks include:

1--The Melrose store that sells celebrities’ discarded rags (A Star Is Worn).

2--The place where thousands gather “to sun, toss beach balls, eat hot dogs and occasionally watch five innings of baseball before leaving early to avoid traffic (Dodger Stadium).

3--The cafe where the French dip sandwich was invented (Philippe’s).

4--The site of an unauthorized rooftop concert by U2, raided by police after “Skid Row residents complained, ‘Haven’t we suffered enough?’ ” (7th and Main streets).

5--And, L.A.’s most famous “film location”--the site of the Rodney King beating (11700 block, Foothill Boulevard, Lake View Terrace).

Chief Gates isn’t gonna like that, either.

When is a cloud of laughing gas as funny as a toothache? When it forces the temporary closure of a freeway during the morning rush, as it did Wednesday on the Foothill. The nitrous oxide had leaked from an Irwindale chemical plant, not a dentist’s office.

Ellen Meehan’s pet can play cat as well as possum.

Burt, as she calls the critter, is proof that “possums are beautiful” and not just garden-destroyers, as some city folk believe.

Since Meehan first discovered Burt “in a flower pot in our garage” in San Gabriel, she swears that the possum has grown into “a husky adult who loves our cats, enjoys all foods and is a delightful companion.

“In the home,” she continues, “he is neat as a pin, using a sandbox like any cat, and washing his hands and face after eating. He loves to explore all night and, then, from dawn to dark, he takes his beauty rest under the pillows on the couch.”

A regular Morris the Possum.

miscelLAny:

Carl Karcher, best known for his Carl’s Jr. restaurants, entered the food service biz in 1941 when he paid $326 to purchase Hugo’s hot dog stand at the corner of Florence and Central avenues in L.A. He changed the name to The Blimp in honor of a nearby landing strip--not his typical customer.