Bonuses

Chris Reed threw in the Dodger Stadium bullpen, with Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly watching. The 21-year-old then slipped on a Dodgers jersey and hat and waved to the crowd, completing an ascent that even he couldn't have envisioned only a year ago as a middling reliever for Stanford. "You always dream about it," Reed said, "but I didn't see it happening. " Reed officially became a member of the Dodgers organization Friday after the first-round draft pick agreed to a $1.589-million signing bonus.

Foreign affairs The international signing period got off to a torrid start when the Texas Rangers signed 16-year-old Dominican outfielder Nomar Mazara to a record-breaking deal reported to be worth more than $5 million. That would be the largest bonus paid to a non-Cuban Latin prospect, eclipsing the $4.25 million that Oakland gave right-hander Michael Ynoa in 2008 — and it's more than 27 teams paid for all of their international signings last year. Texas also spent $3.5 million to sign 16-year-old outfielder Roland Guzman out of the Dominican Prospect League, meaning the Rangers shelled out more to sign two teenage free agents than they spent in the 50-round June draft last season.

Hundreds of Burbank city employees have received a collective $4 million in bonuses since July 2007, according to documents the city fought in court to keep out of public view. The records released by city officials reveal a work culture built around that bonus system, which for some employees has amounted to tens of thousands of dollars in the last four years alone. It dwarfs a bonus program in Glendale, a city nearly twice as large, which distributed $1 million during a 10-year period to top managers.

After agreeing to terms with the Angels on a $1.467-million bonus, first-round pick C.J. Cron showed his power potential Monday, launching a number of balls well beyond the fence in Angel Stadium, including one that cleared both bullpens in left field. "It's not quite [ Mark ] Trumbo pop, but close," Angels right fielder Torii Hunter said after watching the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Cron take batting practice. "And he still has milk behind the ears. Wait until he gets his man muscles.

Even as deep federal budget cuts loomed at the end of last year, members of Congress from both parties paid taxpayer-funded bonuses to their staffs. Overall, House members spent about $21.5 million more on their office payrolls for the fourth quarter of 2010, when bonuses are traditionally paid, than they spent for the average of the three previous quarters, according to LegiStorm, a Washington group that tracks congressional pay. Defeated and retiring lawmakers paid an average bonus of about $4,000.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has ordered the city of Burbank to release data on bonuses paid to individual employees, saying the taxpayers' right to know exceeded any workplace privacy concerns. Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones ruled Friday in a lawsuit filed by the Burbank Leader after city officials refused to make individual bonuses public. Jones cited legal precedent, telling the parties that previous court rulings "basically said, 'Man up, public employees.

Burbank officials are refusing to release the amount of bonuses paid to individual public employees, arguing in a legal filing that the information would reveal private performance evaluations and erode workplace morale. The argument was filed in response to a lawsuit by the Burbank Leader to obtain the information. Senior Assistant City Atty. Juli Scott dismissed the arguments and legal precedent cited by Karlene W. Goller — an attorney for the Leader's parent company, the Los Angeles Times — and Karl Olson of the San Francisco-based firm Ram, Olson, Cereghino & Kopczynski.

Is it a zoo or a museum? Yes to both. The San Diego Zoo and its Safari Park long ago shattered the mold for the cat-in-a-cage attraction. Now other visionary organizations are pushing the limits, putting nature on display more naturally, then adding a pinch of Smithsonian. If you're traveling the West this spring or summer, treat yourself and the kids to a genuine close encounter of the critter kind — educational benefits no extra charge. -- Ken Van Vechten Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road, Tucson; (520)

At the headquarters of Boston Medical Group in Costa Mesa, six salesmen were working the toll-free appointment line on a recent afternoon, fielding calls from men around the country enticed by newspaper and radio ads promising a "proven" solution to erectile dysfunction in "one office visit. " The results are visible "right there in the office," one sales representative told a caller. "It's amazing. " Following a script, he answered a few questions and offered to schedule a $195 consultation at one of the company's 21 U.S. clinics.

Dear Karen: I'm self-employed and make $20,000 a year. The tax lady calculated that I owe $1,600. Can this be right? Answer: Self-employment income is subject to both income tax and self-employment tax. Ordinary income can be reduced by standard deductions and exemptions, but income subject to self-employment tax cannot, said Donald Lucove, a CPA with Lucove, Say & Co. in Calabasas. "The self-employment tax is calculated using 92.35% of self-employment income at 15.3%," he said.