After ‘The OC’ ended, a bike owner had to become a sleuth

“The OC” is no more, but the TV series left behind one mystery.

A worker at the Raleigh Studios lot in Manhattan Beach, where the show was filmed, reported that he parked his bike near the set several months ago only to find it missing. The Beach Reporter newspaper said another worker told him the bike had “been packed with the set for ‘The OC’ and sent to the studio’s Hollywood location,” the newspaper said.

After repeated inquiries, the victim said he was told it had been returned to Manhattan Beach but “possibly thrown away.” He investigated and found the bike “outside the studio, hidden in some bushes, with two flat tires.” He filed a theft report with police.

What I don’t understand is how the item could have been mistaken for something used in “The OC.” As I recall, the rich kids in that series got around in Mercedes SUVs, BMWs and Jaguars.

Speaking of traffic: A shutdown of the freeway is not going to help one car dealer, Bob Hinman of Anaheim suspects (see accompanying).

Another questionable attraction: Noel Plourde decided against accepting one roadside invitation (see photo).

Not sure about this opportunity either: Cal Porter of Malibu saw an ad for a residence that has suffered some quake damage (see item).

Easy for them to say: Paul Rayton of L.A. noticed a couple of posters that were anything but letter perfect (see photo).

Bad connection: The “What’s New” category of snopes.com investigates an Internet report that the message on Palisades High’s answering machine offers the following options:

* “To lie about why your child is absent, press 1.”

* “To make excuses for why your child did not do his work, press 2.”

* “To complain about what we do, press 3.”

* “To swear at staff members, press 4.”

And so on. The message supposedly concludes: “If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, classwork, homework, and that it’s not the teachers’ fault for your child’s lack of effort, hang up and have a nice day!”

In reality, there is no such recording. The anonymous fake message was written after the school district overruled a school policy of flunking students with numerous unexcused absences.

As snopes.com points out, the Internet version “often omits the introductory line, ‘Too bad they can’t actually use it.... ‘ “

miscelLAny: KFWB-AM (980) promotes its freeway advisories with this statement: “Southern California traffic never stops.” Funny, I can’t remember the last time traffic didn’t stop during my commutes.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at [email protected].