Green Light

It's strange how "scandal" gets defined these days in Washington. At the moment, everyone is screaming about the "scandal" of the Internal Revenue Service scrutinizing conservative nonprofits before granting them tax-exempt status. Here are the genuine scandals in this affair: Political organizations are being allowed to masquerade as charities to avoid taxes and keep their donors secret, and the IRS has allowed them to do this for years. The bottom line first: The IRS hasn't done nearly enough over the years to rein in the subversion of the tax law by political groups claiming a tax exemption that is not legally permitted for campaign activity.

A man killed when his scooter collided with a Jaguar driven by a 98-year-old woman was identified Thursday as Oscar Alaniz of Orange. Alaniz, 35, died Wednesday afternoon when he drove into a Costa Mesa intersection on a green light and collided with a vehicle turning left in front of him. Officials with the Costa Mesa Police Department said the car was turning on a green light. The woman driving the car stopped at the scene and was interviewed by police. Alcohol did not appear to play a role in the crash, and she was released pending an investigation, they said.

An advisory committee's hearty 20-to-2 vote to recommend approval of the obesity drug Qnexa on Wednesday means it's highly likely the FDA will allow the medication to be marketed when the agency issues its final report later this year. If approved, Qnexa will be the first new prescription weight-loss medication in 13 years. But people looking for a quick way to lose five or 10 pounds may find Qnexa too troublesome to bother with. According to the manufacturer of the medication, Vivus Inc., and FDA officials, Qnexa should be carefully prescribed and patients should be closely monitored while on the drug.

Impassioned L.A. fans of Sonny Rollins (you know who you are) may have to wait a while longer to hear the legendary jazz saxophonist perform live at a venue near us. Rollins has posted on his website and Facebook that he's been under the weather and that he's canceling some of his scheduled live gigs this spring. Presumably that would include a planned April 20 concert at the Valley Performing Arts Center at Cal State Northridge. On his website, Rollins writes: "I'[ve] come up with a respiratory problem, and I have to cancel some upcoming shows.

Re "Feds deal a blow to would-be attorney," Aug. 13 The more I learn about Sergio C. Garcia, the more I believe that his application for a green card should have been approved many years ago. There are those who say that granting him a license to practice law as an illegal immigrant is amnesty. Justice isn't always codified as law. Garcia isn't asking for a handout. He represents the American dream, and he wants to be a productive member of our society. In this day and age when we have Americans renouncing their citizenship so they can avoid paying taxes, Garcia is a breath of fresh air. There's something fundamentally wrong when Garcia is denied a chance to make this nation greater.

Citing extensive safety improvements, state regulators Thursday cleared the way for completion of the first leg of the Expo light rail project by approving a controversial street-level crossing next to Dorsey High School. In its decision, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted recommendations made in June by one of the agency's hearing officers, who supported a revised plan that called for two station platforms, speed restrictions for trains, motor vehicle gates and other safety improvements for a proposed rail crossing at Farmdale Avenue and Exposition Boulevard.

Re "At least 18 die in Gaza factional fighting," May 16 I know that as an American this will not carry much weight, but I want the leaders of Hamas and Fatah to know that I wholeheartedly support their causes. I wish both sides victory in this escalating civil war. RICH SIEGEL Los Angeles

PARK CITY, Utah - Since the '90s, bestselling humorist David Sedaris has given Hollywood the Heisman. Anyone endeavoring to adapt his wryly observed personal essays into feature films was greeted with an automatic no, a byproduct of Sedaris' enduring apathy toward mounting movies. All that changed, however, when director Kyle Patrick Alvarez, 29, slipped a copy of his 2009 indie phone sex drama “Easier With Practice” to the author at an Irvine book reading along with a note laying out his hopes to adapt Sedaris' autobiographical essay “C.O.G.” (from the 1997 essay collection “Naked”)

Excite, one of the Internet's most popular portal sites, was forced to admit an embarrassing oversight last week when it learned that adult advertisements were appearing in Web site searches that were supposed to be child-safe. The Redwood City, Calif., company quickly amended its ad placement policy so that X-rated ads no longer pop up in "green light" searches on its http://magellan.excite.com/ Web site.

The controversial Kensington gold mine in southeast Alaska has won an important go-ahead from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which approved an amended permit that will allow the mine to dump millions of tons of waste into a nearby lake. The project has been the subject of a national environmental fight over whether navigable lakes and rivers can be used as repositories for toxic mine tailings. The Corps last week announced it was extending Coeur Alaska's permit until 2014 and reiterated that the company could construct a tailings storage facility in Lower Slate Lake, below the mine.

The big winners at this year's Academy Awards: adult moviegoers. For years, the studios have fixated on young men in their teens and 20s, serving up big-budget popcorn movies populated with dazzling visual effects, comic book heroes and high-voltage action sequences. They've also made films geared to win awards, but oftentimes those pictures bring prestige without huge financial returns. At the Oscars on Sunday night, however, six of the nine best picture nominees were hits that earned more than $100 million at the domestic box office.

The Justice Department has given the green light to Random House and Penguin for their proposed merger, they announced Friday. The department approved the proposed merger of the two major publishing companies “without conditions.” In October , the companies confirmed that they had plans to merge into a single entity, Penguin Random House (Alas, not Penguin House or Random Penguin).  Random House is part of Bertelsmann Group, based in Germany; Penguin is part of Pearson, which is based in England.

PARK CITY, Utah - Since the '90s, bestselling humorist David Sedaris has given Hollywood the Heisman. Anyone endeavoring to adapt his wryly observed personal essays into feature films was greeted with an automatic no, a byproduct of Sedaris' enduring apathy toward mounting movies. All that changed, however, when director Kyle Patrick Alvarez, 29, slipped a copy of his 2009 indie phone sex drama “Easier With Practice” to the author at an Irvine book reading along with a note laying out his hopes to adapt Sedaris' autobiographical essay “C.O.G.” (from the 1997 essay collection “Naked”)

No school has meant more to the African American community in Los Angeles than Crenshaw High . For most of its 45 years, it has been an established neighborhood hub, known for championship athletic teams and arts programs, sending graduates to top colleges. But the Leimert Park campus has declined in recent years. Dropout rates have soared and student achievement has plummeted. L.A. Unified school Supt. John Deasy calls it one of the district's biggest disappointments. In an effort to turn the school around, the Board of Education on Tuesday approved Deasy's drastic proposal to remake the campus into three magnets - and require teachers to reapply for their jobs.

Pau Gasol will return Tuesday night from an eight-game absence as the Lakers host the Charlotte Bobcats at Staples Center. Gasol, who struggled with knee tendinitis through most of the early part of the season, has been given the green light to play without restriction. "The sky is the limit, 48 [minutes], if overtime 50," joked Gasol. The Lakers have struggled in his absence, losing five of eight. "It's been difficult," said Gasol of sitting out. "I had no other choice.

Re “ Trolley gets a green light ,” Nov. 7 Trolleys were a great civic improvement in the early 1900s when they helped get tons of horse droppings off the streets. It is 2012 and the horses are long gone, but Anaheim is considering building a trolley line, which will make traffic worse and cost $318 million for 3.2 miles.That's about $100 million a mile. I guess it seems reasonable compared with California's high-speed rail project. Hasn't anyone noticed that California is broke and broken?

Usually, a vote of confidence is the last thing someone in sports wants when things are not going well. But the vote of confidence he got from Coach Henry Bibby was probably something Brandon Granville needed going into tonight's game against Hawaii. The Trojan sophomore point guard is struggling, having made only 30.4% of his shots in USC's seven games. He is the only USC starter not scoring in double figures, averaging 8.6 points a game.

Re "L.A. children's television host in 1950s, '60s," Obituary, Oct. 7 As a child of the 1950s, while my parents worried about the communist living next door, I shared my lunch with the late "Sheriff" John Rovick. Afternoons were divided between playing "Red Light, Green Light" with Engineer Bill; trying to make my own puppet to resemble Webster Webfoot, which sat on the lap of Jimmy Weldon; and the battle for my attention between "Skipper Frank" Herman on "Cartoon Carousel" and Tom Hatten with his "squiggles.

Updated at 10 a.m. Friday to include comments from a Treasury Department spokeswoman. American travel to Cuba, which has surged and dwindled through decades of political ups and downs, may soon be surging again. The key, veteran tour operators say, is the end of an apparent logjam in the handling of travel licenses by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). That office is responsible for issuing and renewing the licenses that educational tour operators must have before they can sell Cuba tours to Americans.