Boys

The Boy Scouts' long-standing refusal to admit gay members is deplorable and offensive. But it's also legal. Just because we - or California legislators - might disagree with the discriminatory path the Boy Scouts has taken doesn't mean the organization should be singled out from other nonprofits to lose its tax-exempt status. A bill that passed a state Senate committee this week would do just that. Under SB 323, , carried by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), the Boy Scouts of America (though unnamed in the bill)

Students shared photos of a girl being sexually assaulted in the days before the girl committed suicide, a lawyer representing the family said. Robert Allard, an attorney representing the family of 15-year-old Audrie Pott, told the San Jose Mercury News that Audrie posted on her Facebook page that her life was "ruined" and that she was enduring the "worst day ever" shortly before she hanged herself last fall in Saratoga in Northern California....

Two young boys, allegedly abducted by their parents last week and taken to Cuba, were frolicking and mugging for reporters Thursday outside the Florida home of their grandparents, who have legal custody of the children. “When you are in the middle of a nightmare, it's kind of hard to do a whole lot,” Bob Hauser, the boys' grandfather, told reporters at a nationally televised news conference. “We knew we would get through it.” Four-year-old Cole and 2-year-old Chase Hakken are back with the Hausers, their maternal grandparents.

Costa Mesa police arrested a 12-year-old boy Wednesday on suspicion of bringing a drug-laced brownie to TeWinkle Middle School, according to a news release. Police said the actual substance that caused three students to be hospitalized had not been determined, but they believe it was marijuana or a derivative. The boy, whose identity was not released because of his age, was booked on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the release. This was the second such incident at a Costa Mesa school in as many months.

SACRAMENTO - Some California lawmakers seeking to pressure the Boy Scouts of America to abandon its ban on openly gay members are taking a novel approach: They are threatening to strip the organization of its state tax exemption. The proposal, which cleared a legislative hurdle Wednesday, once again puts California at the center of a national debate on gay rights, and it could put the state on a collision course with the IRS if passed. The legislation would revoke the exemption from state taxes for any nonprofit that excludes members by sexual orientation, gender identity or religious affiliation.

The integration of Major League Baseball, so heroically carried by Jackie Robinson and ingeniously engineered by Branch Rickey, occupied one spring and summer season in 1947. The boys of summer occupied the baseball seasons of the early 1950s, the boys being the stellar lineup of Brooklyn Dodgers who would win the World Series in 1955. Among them was pitcher Carl Erskine, a teammate of Robinson's, whom I interviewed for my column . “The Boys of Summer” is the title of Roger Kahn's seminal, beloved baseball book, the one he wrote 20 years after spending the long golden seasons with the team.

SAN DIEGO -- Classmates were mourning the death of a student at Ramona High School in northeast San Diego County. He died Wednesday after being hit in the chest with a ball. The 16-year-old sophomore was playing over-the-line, a softball-like sport, during a physical education class when he was struck by a line drive. He later collapsed and was taken to a local hospital, where he was declared dead. Friends told Fox 5 News that he was a good athlete who played freshman football.

SAN DIEGO--A student at Ramona High School in northeast San Diego County died Wednesday hours after being hit in the chest with a ball, officials said. The 16-year-old sophomore was playing over-the-line, a softball-like sport, during a PE class when he was struck by a line drive. He later collapsed and was taken to a local hospital, where he was declared dead. His name has not been released. Principal Tony Newman said the ball being used is even softer than a normal softball.

Should the state of California revoke the Boy Scouts of America's tax-exempt status? A state Senate committee recommended Wednesday that such status be revoked from nonprofit groups -- including the Boy Scouts of America -- that do not allow gays and transsexuals to become members. The Senate Governance and Finance Committee voted 5 to 2 along party lines, with Republicans in opposition, to approve the measure by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens). "The Boy Scouts provide a critical service for our youth," Lara told the committee.

A 6-year-old boy shot in the head by his 4-year-old playmate died of his wounds as investigators in a New Jersey town tried to determine how the younger boy got hold of a loaded .22-caliber rifle and whether charges would be filed. Under New Jersey law, gun owners are required to keep loaded weapons out of the hands of minors, but the 4-year-old living on a cul de sac in Toms River, N.J., was able to wander into his house Monday evening as his parents were outside. He came back out with the loaded weapon, a shot went off, and a bullet entered the head of 6-year-old Brandon Holt, who was sitting in a go-kart outside.