Don’t sweat it:The Metropolitan Transportation Authority claims...

Don’t sweat it:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority claims that the “60 Minutes” TV show “seemed to have the theatrical intent” of attempting to make MTA boss Franklin White “appear guilty of something” in its recent segment on the troubled Metro Rail project.

In a letter to the show, the agency maintained that a “60 Minutes” producer “contacted the building manager where the interview with White was to take place and asked him to turn off the air-conditioning on the entire floor, an hour before the interview.

“While this was allegedly done to reduce noise, in fact, it appears your producer’s intent was to make White sweat,” the letter continued. “When the building manager refused to secure the air-conditioning, [producer Rich] Bonin insisted that White wear his suit jacket during the interview.”

A spokesman for the program said he had not seen the MTA letter, adding only that “it is not uncommon” for a noisy air-conditioning system to be turned off during a TV interview.

Thus ended Only in L.A.’s brief interview with the “60 Minutes” rep. OK, so we don’t have our Mike Wallace act down pat yet.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: The City Council’s Government Efficiency Committee has issued a recommendation for the hiring of a consultant to evaluate the “operations, policies and activities” of the L.A. City Productivity Commission.

A GAME OF REAL HIGHS AND LOWS: A story in The Times about the 1967 “Ice Bowl” playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys brought back memories for Bruce Belsma, a Granada Hills claims adjuster. Few fans have experienced the weather extremes that Belsma has.

Not only did Belsma attend the Ice Bowl in Green Bay, where the temperature was 20 degrees below zero, but in 1963, he attended the USC-Oklahoma game at the sweltering Coliseum, where the temperature was estimated to be 110 degrees in the stands--and more than 120 on the field.

Belsma especially recalls the futility of buying a cup of coffee at halftime of the Ice Bowl. “By the time I got back to my seat,” he said, “it was frozen solid.”

FOR THE BIRDS: “My 5-year-old son, Sam, noticed one of the ubiquitous Ralphs signs,” writes Dan Silverman of L.A., “and asked me why the arrows were pointing ‘to the birds.’

He wondered if we’d find birds in the nearby Ralphs market.”

SECOND INTERSTATE: This promises to be a real year of transition for the 72-floor First Interstate World Center in downtown L.A. Also known as the Library Tower, it’s the otherwise picturesque building with a crown blemished by those ugly gilded “I” logos--the ones that can practically blind you 15 miles away on the freeway on sunny days.

Anyway, when the 110-story Stratosphere Tower opens in Las Vegas, First Interstate will no longer have the distinction of being the tallest building this side of the Mississippi.

Second, First Interstate is also the subject of rival takeover bids by Wells Fargo and First Bank System. And if First Interstate is gobbled up, we presume the I’s will have had it.

miscelLAny A colleague noticed an ad for United States Luggage. This patriotic company’s goods are “made in China.” Does “60 Minutes” know about this?