This is a real sign of the Times *

In Los Angeles media circles the legend is told that in the 1980s, the Los Angeles Times was so fat with news, feature stories and ads that a paper thrown on the porch of actress Barbara Bain landed on — and killed — her dog. (As the Herald Examiner gleefully reported at the time.) That was then. Now the paper is featherweight compared to the fat years. When ex-Times reporter Tracy Wood found yesterday's paper soaking wet in the gutter, her delivery guy knew what happened. "I threw your paper up on your driveway, the same as always," he told Wood. "The wind blew it into the water."

* Noted: Carolyn Strickler, the retired Times archivist and company historian, emailed that she remembers a file on Bain's threatened lawsuit against the Times.