Aliso Viejo

Nine months after Aliso Viejo officials tentatively accepted an offer from a church-connected charity to build a $15-million recreation center on leased city land, the proposal has stalled. Attorneys for the Lake Forest foundation behind the offer are investigating how to protect the charity from litigation relating to the separation of church and state, and the process has halted the project for now.

Kobe, from your interview with Mike Bresnahan (Dec. 23), I'm glad to hear you will pass to your teammates if you are double-teamed. Let us recap your contributions from the Dec. 17 overtime game against Washington. Five-minute overtime begins: 4:34 Bryant shot blocked. 3:55 Bryant misses layup. 2:30 Bryant misses six-footer. 2:05 Bryant makes 27-footer. 1:22 Bryant misses 26-footer. 0:38 Bryant misses layup. 0:33 Bryant makes two free throws. 0:08 Bryant makes 26-footer.

Parker Properties will develop two speculative office buildings and a hotel all valued at $110 million in Aliso Viejo, the developer said. The south Orange County builder plans to start work in the spring on two four-story office buildings with a combined total of 260,000 square feet. No tenants have yet been signed for the offices at 20 and 30 Enterprise in the Summit Office Campus.

Regarding "Dust-Up in Baja" [Nov. 16], on the Baja 500: The article makes off-roaders out to be a bunch of Earth-hating environment destroyers. The truth is the majority of off-roaders are much more respectful of the environment than the talentless clowns that write about them. Jeff Polley Lake Arrowhead You attack a group you know nothing about. I invite you to come out and watch a race, meet up with some teams and talk with them. They don't do it for the money; a lot of these teams do it for the camaraderie.

Re "He Won. Live With It, for Now." Commentary, Nov. 9: Thank you, Robert Scheer, for your lucid analysis of our present situation with President Bush. I am among the millions of disappointed Democrats, so not entirely unbiased in my views. This election has been a wake-up call, and we will need to be even more vigilant concerning the environment and the deficit, not to mention the hot-button issues of abortion rights, gay marriage and Iraq/ terrorism. We can only hope you are correct, that Bush will soon be quacking like the lame duck he is. Carolyn King Silverdale, Wash.

In regard to the ratings of the Emmys, I'm "surprised and puzzled" that "the low numbers surprised and puzzled many in the entertainment industry" ["Emmy Show Posts Sagging Ratings," by Scott Collins and Maria Elena Fernandez, Sept. 21]. What's so puzzling about the fact that nobody cares? I tuned into the Emmys briefly while working out on my elliptical trainer and I almost had to stop exercising to tend to my nausea at the spectacle. By the hyperbolic rants of these performers, one would think they'd won the Nobel Peace Prize or found a cure for AIDS.

An ambulance company says it was asked to contribute to the campaign of an Aliso Viejo city councilman at the same time it was seeking the city's business, triggering concerns that political corruption has arrived in Orange County's newest city. A political consultant said he served as City Councilman Greg Ficke's middle man in seeking a donation from Doctors Ambulance Service in exchange for the councilman's support of its contract.

An Orange County business that has been fined millions of dollars for sending unwanted faxes is suing more than a dozen people who turned to the courts to stop the flow of so-called junk faxes. The lawsuit filed this month by Fax.com in Orange County Superior Court, alleges that the defendants abused the legal system by coordinating small-claims actions in an effort to drive the Aliso Viejo-based company out of business.

An Aliso Viejo man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of robbery after he used a taxicab to make his getaway in Tustin, authorities said. Brandon Bandt, 34, is being held at Orange County Jail on suspicion of robbery and violating parole. According to Tustin Police Sgt. Mark Hein, Bandt took a cab to a grocery store on Newport Avenue and told the driver to wait. Once inside, Hein said, Bandt took a bottle of whiskey and more than $300 in cash, police said.

Re "It's Time to Sing a New Tune on the Budget, but Who Has the Courage?" by George Skelton, July 8: When discussing balancing the budget in California, Skelton states, "Any governor or legislator who believes California can truly balance its books ... without raising taxes is haplessly fantasizing." I am not sure what sort of economics background Skelton has, but in my own finances, I have discovered that if I don't spend more money than I take in, my books balance. Why is Skelton so certain that California can't do the same?