Rat

There was little last-surviving Rat Pack member and longtime Newport Beach resident Joey Bishop loved more than a good joke and visiting with friends and neighbors at his home on Lido Isle. Bishop would always touch the mezuza that hung near his front door and bless his guests as they left his home. “He would say, ‘I just thank God for all I have been given.’ He never forgot his humble beginnings” recalls close friend Rabbi Reuven Mintz of Chabad Jewish Center in Newport Beach.

SAFE HAVEN The Southern California chapter of the Rat and Mouse Club of America was founded in 1995. Its main goal is to make sure people get accurate information on how to care for domestic rats. The organization also acts as a rat advocate and does a bit of rescue work. If you're interested in owning a rat, the RMCA is a great resource for finding a rat, pet supplies and general guidance. The organization has about 100 members and sponsors meetings and other social gatherings.

Joey Bishop, the last surviving member of the Rat Pack and a longtime area resident, died Wednesday night at his home in Newport Beach. He was 89. Bishop was a member of the Balboa Bay Club and made publicity appearances for Chabad Jewish Center in Newport Beach. Local residents remembered Bishop for his generosity to charities and legendary sense of humor. “For some reason I kept bumping into him at the Via Lido Drug Store,” said Gay Wassall-Kelly of the Balboa Beacon in a statement issued Thursday.

Jose J. Santos Rat lovers, there's no need to be mousy about your passion. "It's surprising to find how many people have had rats as kids, or have them now, and don't tell anybody," Costa Mesa resident Diane Carson said. Carson is a member of the Southern California chapter of the Rat and Mouse Club of America, an organization dedicated to spreading the good word about the furry critters. Maybe it's some of the popular misconceptions about rats that have people scurrying to hide their love away: Rats are dirty, rats spread disease, and rats are terrible biters.

I seem to have carried on a lifetime feud with rats. It all started when I was a kid in Balboa. At the ripe old age of 9, I began to work at the Green Dragon Cafe on Main Street in Balboa. The Dragon was The Ritz of its day. Everyone who was anyone ate lunch at the Dragon. It was a status symbol. It was also the only place in town. This particular day, I was chipping ice. I know it's difficult for the younger generations to accept, but there was a time in our climb up the ladder of civilization when we had no ice cubes.

I got quite a laugh out of Peter Buffa's column on Feb. 2 as I have the very same aversion to those horrible, despicable rodents as well (Comments and Curiosities -- "Oh, those dratted rats"). It is also nice to know that rat fear knows no gender. I am sure there were an equal amount of men and women that could place themselves in his position. Thank God Buffa has his wife to come to his rescue. I had a mouse in the house one night at 10:30 p.m. and no one to come to my rescue.

The other day my buddy Rat Jr. and I were talking and he mentioned my recent column about surfboard makers. After three weeks, he had come up with Del Cannon. “Yeah, that’s another good one I didn’t get,” I said. “He was in San Clemente.” “What about wetsuits?” Rat Jr. asked. That piqued my interest because David Maze, who had e-mailed about surfboard makers, also asked about my first wetsuit. He mentioned a rubber top over a sweatshirt.

Tom Titus For those who, like your correspondent, relate to "The Wind in the Willows" only from taking Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland, the stage version of this classic children's novel -- now being presented at South Coast Repertory Theater -- will be something of an eye-opener. Originally a late 19th century book by Kenneth Grahame, "The Wind in the Willows" has been entertaining generations of youngsters on both sides of the Atlantic for more than 100 years in one form or another.

Karen Wight I've tried to be an imaginative Christmas elf this season. Finding clever and original gifts is hard and takes a lot of time. I've traveled outside my usual loop, and I'm proud of my obscure purchases. I've shopped home boutiques to find unusual items that don't have "retail" written all over them. I've secretly shopped online, Christmas Company, Ebay, weekends away without the kids, and I've listened for nuggets of information from other elves.

I tried hard to stay out of the Measure A school bond debate. It didn't work. I should know better than to get involved in these things, but I can't help myself. I could give you a lengthy and brilliant (of course) argument about Measure A, and leave you in suspense about where I stand. But both you and I are much too busy for that. Here's where I stand, based on extensive research I've done in the last hour and a number of theories proffered and accepted by no one except me. Vote for it. There you have it. If you haven't already sent in your absentee ballot, go into the little cardboard box on June 6, pull the Hefty trash bag curtain behind you and punch out the square marked "yes."

A homeless encampment in Costa Mesa adorned with animal rights posters and graffiti could have been shelter to suspects connected to a recent rash of burglaries, police said Thursday. Costa Mesa police discovered the elaborate encampment beneath a San Diego (405) Freeway underpass where the Santa Ana River meets Moon Park, 3377 California St. Officers believe six to eight men have been living in the encampment for about two years, said Sgt. Vic Bakkila. The camp was discovered after an officer saw a suspicious-looking man go under the overpass, according to Bakkila.

The California Supreme Court this week rejected a Jewish organization’s appeal against the estate of Joey Bishop, the late entertainer and member of the “Rat Pack.” But the legal battle over his fortune isn’t over yet, an attorney for the Newport Beach Chabad Center said Friday. The center filed several lawsuits and claims against Bishop’s estate, alleging that the entertainer’s advisors and live-in caretaker blocked his final wishes to have part of his estate go toward setting up a charity for special-needs children in Orange County.

The other day my buddy Rat Jr. and I were talking and he mentioned my recent column about surfboard makers. After three weeks, he had come up with Del Cannon. “Yeah, that’s another good one I didn’t get,” I said. “He was in San Clemente.” “What about wetsuits?” Rat Jr. asked. That piqued my interest because David Maze, who had e-mailed about surfboard makers, also asked about my first wetsuit. He mentioned a rubber top over a sweatshirt.

Sage Hill School’s cafeteria last week was shut down for a day, after county health inspectors found rodent droppings in a storage room and suspended the cafeteria’s health permit during an unannounced visit. The Newport Beach private school’s cafeteria was shut down midday Nov. 5 after lunch had been served, Head of School Gordon McNeill said. It reopened the next morning, when the school’s health permit was reinstated. “There was no disruption to food service,” McNeill said.

Rat-powered robotics are taking central stage at UC Irvine — not Disneyland — because of a robot powered by rodent brain impulses that is teaching researchers about uncertainty in the face of change. The robot is being used in a $1.6-million joint study between UCI and UC San Diego; researchers hope to learn about the brain’s role in decision making and attention at the neuron level. “Little is known about the areas of the brain involved in making decisions when faced with uncertainty,” Jeffrey Krichmar, a UCI cognitive scientist and one of the study’s lead researchers, said in a release.

Longtime Newport Beach resident and Rat Pack comedian Joey Bishop’s longtime, live-in companion this week settled part of her lawsuit alleging that the late entertainer’s financial planners tried to cheat her out of part of his estate. Now Newport Beach Chabad Center, a Jewish community center and religious organization claims that Bishop intended to leave part of his multimillion-dollar estate to found a children’s charity, court documents obtained by the Daily Pilot show.

A paralysis treatment developed by UCI neuroscientist Hans Keirstead will be the first stem cell treatment tested in humans, the university announced Friday. The Food and Drug Administration approved the therapy after it restored the ability to walk for rats paralyzed by severe spinal cord injuries. Aside from being a first in the stem cell field, the treatment is a first in the spinal cord injury field. Right now, only one therapy exists for the type of paralysis that Keirstead’s method will treat — methylprednisolone — and it’s questionable whether it gets any results at all, Keirstead said.

There was little last-surviving Rat Pack member and longtime Newport Beach resident Joey Bishop loved more than a good joke and visiting with friends and neighbors at his home on Lido Isle. Bishop would always touch the mezuza that hung near his front door and bless his guests as they left his home. “He would say, ‘I just thank God for all I have been given.’ He never forgot his humble beginnings” recalls close friend Rabbi Reuven Mintz of Chabad Jewish Center in Newport Beach.

Joey Bishop, the last surviving member of the Rat Pack and a longtime area resident, died Wednesday night at his home in Newport Beach. He was 89. Bishop was a member of the Balboa Bay Club and made publicity appearances for Chabad Jewish Center in Newport Beach. Local residents remembered Bishop for his generosity to charities and legendary sense of humor. “For some reason I kept bumping into him at the Via Lido Drug Store,” said Gay Wassall-Kelly of the Balboa Beacon in a statement issued Thursday.

Amid the throngs of double-wide strollers weaving through numerous booths peddling digital scrapbooks and organic food choices at Kids Faire Saturday and Sunday at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, a small band of buccaneers awaited young travelers to pass on a bit of their knowledge. Yes, pirates. The Port Royal Pirates, a crew of Southern California residents, pride themselves on their ability to get the kids interested in “ye olde” seafaring lifestyle without scaring youngsters off. While costumed characters like Hip Hop Harry and Barney sang songs to toddlers about brushing teeth and washing hands before and after meals, the Port Royal troop showed kids how to write with a quill, balance themselves while raising a sail at sea, and even introduced them to a few rats.