Photo: "Hydraulics" by Cindy Bennett, May 20, 2007.

Sunday afternoon a car club gathered on Stadium Way beneath the Canary Island palms, a traditional spot for fancy auto display. (A couple more photos on next "page," after "continue.")

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Then, Monday...

As part of the McCourt Dodgers' commitment to Echo Park relations, VP Howard Sunkin and Noel Pallais took time this morning to grab a quick cup of coffee and talk about Chicken Corner and...the Dodgers. Went to the Rodeo Grill on Sunset after finding the pair looking a bit restless outside of Masa, our original meet, which was closed.

Howard said the organization is committed to "three equally guiding principles": playing baseball, offering an exceptional fan experience AND neighbor-relations. And I had thought they wanted to pave Elysian Park and turn it into a parking lot! Not so. Much of what Howard and Noel said sounded good (of course), and Chicken Corner ate some of it up: with the neighborhood council, the Dodgers have formed a task force to figure out ways to improve transportation to and from the stadium; there are 16 cops assigned to Scott Ave. on nights when the gate is open -- a good number. A genuine commitment to providing shuttles certainly would be a wholesome guiding principle. Here's to hoping it gets better all the time.

As for fire: Howard said that on the advice of the fire department, the fireworks were modified -- the "fallout" (I guess that's the display part) made narrower -- at the Dodgers' most recent pyrotechnics show.

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