Charities

The former top candidate to replace Los Angeles County's retiring chief administrator has accepted a job with a Minneapolis foundation, officials said Monday. Sandra Vargas, former chief administrator in Hennepin County, Minn., was named the president and chief executive of the philanthropic Minneapolis Foundation, effective April 1.

A state attorney general's investigation of a private group associated with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is focusing on its charitable fundraising, according to documents obtained by The Times. Members of the Homeland Security Support Unit -- made up of local businessmen, many of them contributors to Baca's political campaigns -- have been asked to supply the attorney general with evidence of any payments made to the group or its leaders.

At least 6,000 people lined up this weekend when local businesses and a church gave food to residents who lost jobs after freezing temperatures earlier this month destroyed an estimated $1 billion in California produce. The event Saturday, organized by Fresno's Cornerstone Church, Orange Cove Mayor Victor Lopez, Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino and other businesses, sent more than 200 tons of food home with local families.

Trouble keeps hounding Michael Kerr, the man who organized an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland in December for the families of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the heels of the state attorney general scrutinizing his charity's financial records, Kerr's former employer has now sued him for allegedly failing to repay a $6,000 salary advance. The case appears similar to a $78,000 judgment leveled against Kerr in 2000 after another employer filed suit against him.

Mark Ryden's newest work is a vintage paint-by-numbers portrait of a young girl -- or it was before Ryden re-imagined its subject to show her holding a baby that appears to be growing out of a sweet potato. The gallerists selling it, Jan Corey Helford and Richard Helford, couldn't be happier.

ALBIE HECHT is an old hand at philanthropy. The former Nickelodeon president who greenlighted such hits as "SpongeBob SquarePants" has long been generous to children's charities. He has produced public service announcements and telethons, organized community outreach projects and created the Big Help, a campaign aimed at getting kids to participate in community service.

Pakistan has banned two Islamic charities accused of links with terrorist groups, officials said. The Ministry of Interior said Sunday that authorities across Pakistan would shut down the activities of the Al Rashid Trust and the Al Akhtar Trust. Provincial authorities should "ensure that all offices, bank accounts, projects, websites and publications of listed entities do not operate," the ministry said in a statement.

Glitz hits the Santa Monica sands today when stars like Josh Hartnett, Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire and Sharon Stone walk the paparazzi-lined red carpet into a giant beach-side tent for Film Independent's Spirit Awards. Billed as the independent film community's biggest party, the 22nd annual gala will be televised on two cable channels, with a third offering a fashion-and-gossip preview.

When the Bush administration shut down the nation's largest Muslim charity five years ago, officials of the Dallas-based foundation denied allegations it was linked to terrorists and insisted that a number of accusations were fabricated by the government. Now, attorneys for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development say the government's own documents provide evidence of that claim.

A lawsuit that contended that charity founder Michael Kerr failed to repay a $6,000 salary advance last year has been settled out of court, both parties said Wednesday. The terms weren't revealed, but Kerr "has financial obligations that he will need to live up to as part of the settlement," said Barry Saywitz, president of a Newport Beach commercial real estate firm that sued Kerr in Small Claims Court last month. Kerr's wife, Jean, said her husband was pleased with the outcome.