Complaints

Randy Velarde's routine grounder in the bottom of the 13th inning Monday night took a wild hop over Chicago White Sox shortstop Ozzie Guillen's head, allowing the winning run to score in the Angels' 9-8 victory. And minutes later, Guillen was hopping mad. "I did everything I could to field it," Guillen said, "but it's hard to play a big league game when the field is not in big league shape."

Russia's top Olympic official complained about conditions for the Atlanta Games, citing everything from the heat to the accommodations. "There is a big difference between promises of the organizers before the Olympics and real conditions," said Vitaly Smirnov, president of the Russian Olympic Committee. Smirnov also said Atlanta organizers had not allowed Russian experts to examine the swimming pool and did not give Moscow a training schedule for the swimming events.

Before John Travolta, before Tori Spelling, a 9-year-old Costa Mesa boy with a touch of showmanship told Jay Leno on NBC-TV's "The Tonight Show" how he stopped a $17-million ice pops company from dropping his favorite Otter Pops flavor. Fourth-grader Kevin Kee told Leno how he and his family picketed in the rain at the Riverside headquarters of National Pax Corp., the makers of Otter Pops, when word leaked out that the Sir Isaac Lime flavor would be dropped for a new flavor, Scarlett O'Cherry.

There are more then 500 establishments in the Pico-Union/Westlake area that have liquor licenses. If Roberto Bustillo has his way, no more new licenses will be issued. Bustillo is one of the organizers of the Prevention Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program, a 6-month-old community project to shut down problem liquor stores and to stop the spread of new outlets. The program, part of the nonprofit Clinica Msr. Oscar A. Romero, will hold a meeting at 6 tonight at 2517 W. 7th St.

Over the protests of some merchants, the city's 15th annual I Love La Habra Fair opened downtown Friday for a three-day run that organizers project will draw more than 15,000. Business owners' objections focused on the fact that La Habra Boulevard is being closed to traffic for the event. "This is terrible," said Jackie Fogel, owner of MacKinnon's Stationery store on the boulevard. "The weekend before Valentine's Day is my busiest weekend, but . . .

Tucker Slender, the official starter for races at Santa Anita, has been reprimanded by the track after his prerace whipping of Lit De Justice, one of the favorites in last Saturday's $202,400 Potrero Grande Breeders' Cup Handicap. C.N. Ray, who races Lit De Justice, said Cliff Goodrich, president of the track, told him Slender would be disciplined. Ray met with Santa Anita officials earlier this week.

Sleeping Beauty probably needed the rest after standing in lines all day at Disneyland. With the peak summer months coming and adult admission now at $34, Disney chat sites on the Internet have been buzzing with gripes about the long waits. Disneyland spokesman Tom Brocato said those concerns have reached the Mouse's ears. The park's operations group is working on ways to speed the lines at the most popular attractions. "We're expecting a very busy summer," Brocato said.

It has been touted as a mighty defense against the ravages of rainstorms, a huge underground drain that's wide enough to drive a big-rig truck through and designed to prevent flood waters from inundating Westside neighborhoods. But to many who live in its path, the Hollyhills storm drain itself spells disaster. Work crews have spent months digging up streets with tractors and cranes, jamming intersections along the eight-mile route between the Hollywood Hills and Ballona Creek.

One after another, they climbed to their feet and told stories in halting English that sounded like tales from some jackbooted dictatorship. A small man in tennis shoes said he was arrested 32 times in a few months, once because the registration tags on a tenant's car had expired. Tsy Hou Chang said he was forced to close two motels. "I was a million-dollar man," Chang told more than 30 Asian American business owners who met to protest government harassment. "Now I'm in bankruptcy."