Aids Project Los Angeles

The 17th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles, which has previously started and ended at Paramount Pictures, has been moved to the Pacific Design Center because of security concerns following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, officials announced Wednesday. The Oct. 21 event was moved because of the heightened security at Southern California movie studios, said Craig E. Thompson, executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles.

The bells of Hollywood United Methodist Church rang for 20 minutes--each minute marking the years since the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the United States. In a small ceremony on Tuesday, volunteers from AIDS Project Los Angeles read names in memory of 1,000 friends and clients who have died of the disease. Twenty years after the first cases were reported in Los Angeles, health officials say battle lines in the AIDS epidemic have changed, but their warnings haven't: Practice safe sex.

At a recent gathering in a Los Angeles community center, a man who is about to speak introduces himself as a 53-year-old gay man. "I always like to say my age," he explains, "because there are so few of us left." Conversations about the impact of 20 years of AIDS in America, even among activists, often begin in a bit of a fog. Has it been that long? some ask. Has it really?

* Dance. Le Ballet National du Senegal brings its full-evening folkloric extravaganza "Pangols" back to the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, from Sept. 24 to 27. (Thurs. to Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 and 7 p.m.) $27-$32. (949) 854-4646. * Charity Event. AIDS Walk Los Angeles takes to the streets of Hollywood, Sept. 27 at 10 a.m., with thousands joining in the 10K walk to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles. (213) 466-WALK. * Jazz.

It starts out civilized enough, but the Barneys New York Warehouse Sale looks like an enormous coed locker room once the bargain hunters start stripping down to try on designer whatnots (marked down by half or more) in the makeshift aisles at Santa Monica's Barker Hangar. At last month's $10-a-head preview--a benefit for AIDS Project Los Angeles--invited guests got first dibs before the shopping event of the year opened to the public.

Any manual on How to Build an Empire should include the chapter "Begin as a Popular Hairstylist." That would certainly describe the Frederic Fekkai story. The inventive French-born hairdresser keeps expanding his domain. First, he re-created his cheerful New York salon on Rodeo Drive, complete with walls painted in the sun-drenched tones of his native Provence.

James Loyce Jr. will step down as executive director and chief executive officer of AIDS Project Los Angeles on June 30, the organization announced Friday. Chief Operating Officer Craig E. Thompson will assume the position of executive director, said AIDS Project spokeswoman Nicole Russo-Okamoto. Loyce, who headed the group for four years, wants to return to public policy and public health administration and explore philanthropic foundation work.