Hold everything: Los Angeles City Councilman Nate...

Hold everything: Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden, who racked up 28% of the vote in the recent mayoral race, says he may demand a recount.

Holden is suspicious because support for Tom Bradley, who was (apparently) elected to his fifth term, stood at about 50% on Election Day with half of the ballots counted. But His Honor wound up with 51.92%.

“I still have to look at some aspects, some inconsistencies, in the returns,� the councilman said. “Elections follow a pattern, a trend. When the trend is interrupted, there has to be a reason.�

Before the City Council voted Tuesday to certify the results, Holden grilled City Clerk Elias Martinez on the way ballots are counted or thrown out. The councilman, who had hoped that Bradley would receive less than 50% (thus forcing a runoff), has five days in which to demand a recount. A mayoral defeat would be his seventh in nine attempts for public office.

There’s no word yet on the issue from another mayoral hopeful, Baxter Ward. You may recall that last year when the busy Ward lost a bid to unseat incumbent county Supervisor Mike Antonovich, he paid for a recount.

Antonovich then picked up an additional eight votes, which wasn’t such a dramatic development inasmuch as the supervisor was supported by more than 64% of the electorate in the first place.

You couldn’t tell the Presidents without a score card at the county Board of Supervisors meeting.

It was All Presidents Day, in recognition of the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration, and two characters costumed as Chief Executives showed up for the celebration--all while the real George Bush was visiting Orange County.

The George Washington personage was so young that he resembled more closely the Teen-ager (rather than Father) of Our Country. He was portrayed by a 24-year-old actor named Wyatt Weed, who said he was called on “very short notice� and added that his usual roles are “soldiers of fortune.�

The second President, bearded and wearing a stovepipe hat, moved one reporter to whisper beforehand: “Is it Abe Lincoln?�

It turned out to be Benjamin Harrison, as portrayed by musical director William Fuerstein.

The somewhat obscure 23rd President was there because it’s the 100th anniversary of his inauguration. But an observer couldn’t help but quip: “I guess he was the only other President who could come at the last minute.�

The Save Grunt movement grows.

Two days after The Times reported that the 800-pound-plus porker might have to be put to death because he was homeless, the number of people offering to adopt him has risen to more than 300, the county animal shelter says. (It was about 45 on Monday.)

Grunt, whose new owner will be announced today, formerly lived with a Rolling Hills Estates family that moved away.

Among the latest callers, animal control Sgt. James Bay said, was “a man in Northern California with a 400-acre pig farm who wants to use the pig as a stud.�

He added, “That would be my choice.�

But life isn’t only happy endings, as the kids at Mt. Washington Elementary School have learned. They held a memorial service the other day for the school’s long-time mascot, Chief, who died recently at the age of 13.

“I think we were one of the few schools in the city that had a dog who was given the run of the campus,� Principal Patricia Cobb said. “Everyone loved him.�

Chief, whose owner lived across the street, had been a fixture at the north Los Angeles school since 1976, even shrugging off the time a group of preschoolers doused him with red paint.

Cobb said it was unlikely that the school would adopt a new mascot, noting that Chief “was pretty unique.�

David Yoshitomi, the student body president, sadly recalled: “I always liked giving him dog biscuits and water. And whenever I saw him on the way to school, I petted him.�

The service drew about 150 students. The kids paid their ultimate tribute. They stayed after school for the service.