INSIDE SCOOPS

Kudos to Newport Beach’s Fletcher Jones Motorcars. When our Costa Mesa

reporter’s grubby Volkswagen Jetta nicked the bumper of a shiny black

Mercedes out for a test run, the service staff offered to wash his car

for free.

How’s that for good service?

For the record, the reporter declined the gracious offer.

OLD GUNS

John Blaich, the Daily Pilot’s “Yachts of Yesteryear” columnist and

author of a forthcoming book on old Newport yachts, got to talking

recently about the Vida, a 234-foot Newport Beach yacht that went into

Navy service during World War II.

It turns out, Blaich said, that a piece of the Vida’s wartime history

is still here in Newport Beach: Its saluting cannon is proudly kept at

the Newport Harbor Yacht Club.

Sports meets Hollywood meets Washington, D.C.

It has been well reported that Newport Beach super agent Leigh

Steinberg has conquered the sports arena and is making forays into the

world of Hollywood.

But what about his venture into the nation’s political scene?

Steinberg attended Thursday’s installment of the Democratic National

Convention at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. He sat among

the country’s political bigwigs, movie stars and Democratic delegates and

listened to Vice President Al Gore accept the party’s presidential

nomination.

But perhaps the most impressive part of the evening: Steinberg got to

hear superstar Barbra Streisand perform.