Sparky

Sparky the Dog is trying to make fire prevention in Brea homes as popular as Smokey the Bear's fire prevention program in the forest. "People have a lack of respect for the power of fire in a home," said Anna Cave, 24, a fire prevention specialist who becomes Sparky the Dog in her frequent visits to schools and community groups to spread the word about fire safety. "If you think of it, fire is around us all the time, especially in the home.

Tim Burton, cinematic champion of weirdos, outsiders and overlooked geniuses, has long been stitching together broken psyches. Over the years he's taken detours for big-budget reprises such as "Alice in Wonderland," "Sweeney Todd" and "Planet of the Apes," some a better fit than others. In contrast, "Frankenweenie," his new animated riff on horror classics about a boy with a scientific bent resurrecting his pet dog, feels very much a return to form. Actually it's more like the filmmaker has come home, kicked up his feet and done exactly as he wants in this love letter to the original "Frankenstein" - cue thunder and lightning.

Earlier this week, the internet was abuzz with reports that health officials in Columbia, Mo., had stepped in to prevent local ice cream parlor Sparky's from serving (apparently quite tasty) ice cream made with cicadas, the noisy bugs that swarm vast stretches of the South and Midwest every 13 years.   It turns out those reports didn't get the story completely right .  According to reporter Melissa Klauda, who broke the cicada ice cream story and also served up a delicious bit describing other ways to eat the critters (loving that photo of the cicada pizza!

Earlier this week, the internet was abuzz with reports that health officials in Columbia, Mo., had stepped in to prevent local ice cream parlor Sparky's from serving (apparently quite tasty) ice cream made with cicadas, the noisy bugs that swarm vast stretches of the South and Midwest every 13 years.   It turns out those reports didn't get the story completely right .  According to reporter Melissa Klauda, who broke the cicada ice cream story and also served up a delicious bit describing other ways to eat the critters (loving that photo of the cicada pizza!

My dog, Sparky, and I feel compelled to praise Hilburn's long-overdue article about Yoko Ono. Nothing quite perks us up first thing in the morning like a Calendar monopolized by his unending ode to a fabulously wealthy, yet ever-so-troubled, quasi-musical artiste. Sparky particularly related to Yoko's problems with concert attendance, as lately he has had trouble filling the Forum for the performance of his incredible flip-the-potato-chip-into-his-mouth trick. He was so moved, in fact, that he showered upon the Calendar the highest symbol of his respect and affection.

A British couple traveled nearly 4,000 miles, from London to Michigan, to adopt a kitten they found on a pet adoption website. Rose and Chris Rasmussen arrived in Harrison last week to adopt Sparky from the Clare County Animal Shelter. They said they wanted the adventure of traveling to the U.S. instead of shipping the cat, who has spent six months in quarantine in preparation for his return with the couple. Clare County Animal Control Director Dave Gendregske says Sparky is worth the trip because of his "dynamic personality."

Tim Burton, cinematic champion of weirdos, outsiders and overlooked geniuses, has long been stitching together broken psyches. Over the years he's taken detours for big-budget reprises such as "Alice in Wonderland," "Sweeney Todd" and "Planet of the Apes," some a better fit than others. In contrast, "Frankenweenie," his new animated riff on horror classics about a boy with a scientific bent resurrecting his pet dog, feels very much a return to form. Actually it's more like the filmmaker has come home, kicked up his feet and done exactly as he wants in this love letter to the original "Frankenstein" - cue thunder and lightning.

Good morning. You don't know me. My name is Johnny Scab, professional baseball player for hire. I have no scruples. I have no conscience. I have no respect. I have my bat and my mitt, that's it. Friday, Feb. 17: I report for duty to my new team. The equipment manager issues me jersey No. 99. I don't mind. Makes me feel like Gretzky. A coach in the clubhouse yells over: "Why not give him one with a dollar sign on it?" He sounds angry about something. I just laugh.

They're all into weightlifting now, but Bobby Mitchell can remember when the off-season in pro football was just what the name implied. "Truthfully, I can't remember doing anything," said Mitchell, assistant general manager of the Washington Redskins. Mitchell, who played under Paul Brown at Cleveland and Vince Lombardi at Washington, said: "We just did some running, push-ups and calisthenics in training camp. I know that Jim Brown never lifted a weight in his life.

It may not be nice to fool with Mother Nature, but as San Fernando baseball Coach Steve Marden discovered, it is even worse to mess with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. In his younger, more reckless days at San Fernando, Marden rarely conceded defeat when confronted with a rain-saturated field. His methods for making it playable, however, were rarely routine. "If I thought it was an important, critical game," he said, "I'd really see if we could get it in."

Sparky Anderson was so closely tied to the Cincinnati Reds and the Big Red Machine, it's surprising to realize that he managed the Detroit Tigers for nearly twice as many seasons. ? Wherever he managed, he was always fair, as he once noted in a cherished sound bite made famous by Jim Healy . ? Known as "Captain Hook" for pulling pitchers, Anderson also knew when to leave well enough alone: In the 1976 World Series, with the designated-hitter rule in effect for every game, the Dorsey High graduate utilized the same batting order for all four games as the Reds swept the New York Yankees.

The names remain unknown. The results remain the same. The Dodgers' bullpen is still closing out games. The latest was a 3-2 victory over the Oakland A's on Thursday at Dodger Stadium that moved Manager Joe Torre past Sparky Anderson into fifth place on baseball's all-time win list with 2,195. Absent was the anchor of the otherwise anonymous group of arms that emerge from the gates behind left field, closer Jonathan Broxton, who missed his second consecutive game because of a sore toe.

A British couple traveled nearly 4,000 miles, from London to Michigan, to adopt a kitten they found on a pet adoption website. Rose and Chris Rasmussen arrived in Harrison last week to adopt Sparky from the Clare County Animal Shelter. They said they wanted the adventure of traveling to the U.S. instead of shipping the cat, who has spent six months in quarantine in preparation for his return with the couple. Clare County Animal Control Director Dave Gendregske says Sparky is worth the trip because of his "dynamic personality."

Baseball Hall of Famer George "Sparky" Anderson will be honored by outgoing state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) in a ceremony Thursday at Cal Lutheran University. Wright and Senate President John Burton (D-San Francisco), a longtime friend of Anderson, will present a resolution honoring the former major league manager's recent induction into the baseball Hall of Fame and his work on behalf of local sports programs.

They are forever linked by the memorable World Series of 1975, and now they are forever linked in an even more meaningful way. Sparky Anderson, the manager of Cincinnati's Big Red Machine in '75, Tony Perez, his first baseman, and Carlton Fisk, the Boston Red Sox catcher who hit that dramatic home run in Game 6, were inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame on Sunday, the culmination of an improbable career journey for each, and a 25-year reunion of which Fisk said: "To have it come full circle . .

At his favorite deli not far from the modest house that he and his wife, Carol, built in Thousand Oaks in 1967, Sparky Anderson was still trying to digest the fact that "a nobody who couldn't play the game is going into the Hall of Fame. It's wild. You start out as a kid with all these dreams, as kids should, and they have all come true. You couldn't ask for anything better."

He was a baseball player with a contradictory name. In a 17-year Hall of Fame career with the Cincinnati Reds, Johnny Bench almost never sat on one. Bench was a workhorse. Starting in 1967, and becoming arguably the best catcher ever, he played in 2,158 games, an average of 127 a season. That's a lot of squatting. He had his ways of communicating when enough was enough. "We were playing the Dodgers in Cincinnati one time, and the game the night before had gone on until something like 1 in the morning," Bench says.

Recently I visited Sparky Anderson at his hospital room in Thousand Oaks. I join thousands of fans in Ventura County, throughout Southern California and around the country--along with Sparky, his wife Carol and their family--in giving thanks for his splendid progress following bypass heart surgery. Sparky is a genuine treasure for the Conejo Valley. He is a good neighbor. He gives his support to many charitable causes. As has John Wooden in the realm of basketball, Sparky has given a good name to the world of baseball.

In a state with an electric chair nicknamed Old Sparky and a history of botched executions, the switch to lethal injection was supposed to make capital punishment almost routine. But as Florida prepares to put another convicted killer to death today, a controversy has erupted over the state's ability to kill humanely. "We have so much zeal to execute as many as we can, as fast as we can, that we keep making blunders," said Michael Radelet, a sociology professor at the University of Florida.

Sparky Anderson, the manager whose folksy tales of baseball and life made him a latter-day Casey Stengel, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday. Three hours after being notified by the electors of the Veterans Committee, Anderson was roundly cheered in the grill at Sunset Hills Country Club in Thousand Oaks, where he is a member. Later, when he ticked off the benefits of induction, five more handicap strokes from his regular foursome was high on the list. "You got it!"