Consultants

A Reseda woman who owns an immigration consultant business is the fourth person to be sentenced after pleading no contest to failing to comply with a law requiring such businesses to post bonds with the state, according to Los Angeles City Atty. James Hahn. Odilia N. Smith, 59, president of Immigration Services Inc. in Los Angeles, was charged with failing to post a $25,000 bond with the secretary of state's office as required by the Immigration Consultants Act, said P.

If you believe in researching companies thoroughly before you buy shares in them, youprobably would like the analysts to call the shots at your mutual fund. And you can guarantee that at one of the many new analyst-run mutual funds. These investments take stock research to an extreme. Rather than rely on one or two portfolio managers to make buy and sell decisions, the funds let upward of two dozen analysts call the shots.

Sears Roebuck & Co., the nation's No. 2 retailer, said it hired investment banker Salomon Smith Barney to explore options for its HomeLife furniture stores, including a sale. HomeLife, which operates 126 free-standing stores, is the nation's third-largest furniture chain, with sales of about $650 million, according to Furniture Today trade magazine. Sears has said it would consider different options for the furniture chain if its business didn't turn around.

The Players The following are the top 10 Los Angeles lobbying firms, based on city Ethics Commission reports of the fees they have collected for lobbying on city issues. Also included are the firms' lead City Hall lobbyists and top clients of 1997. The city's strict reporting laws require firms to register lobbyists who attempt to influence decisions made by elected officials.

Using a combination of Marine Corps training and Hollywood shtick, Warriors Inc. and its cadre of military consultants have cornered the market on war films. Formed in 1985 by retired Marine Capt. Dale A. Dye, Warriors Inc.'s initial mission was to work with directors making realistic films about the Vietnam War. Since then, Warriors' technical advisors have been involved in projects as diverse as "Small Soldiers" and Steven Spielberg's latest film, "Saving Private Ryan."

South County airport foes have hired a political consulting firm in San Diego to begin crafting a 1999 ballot initiative asking voters to choose between a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine base and a non-aviation plan. Tom Shepard, a political consultant who heads the firm Campaign Strategies, was retained this month by a coalition of anti-airport business groups and individuals in South County.

When Arab American and Muslim leaders talked after previewing DreamWorks' coming animated Bible story, "The Prince of Egypt," they say the studio executives listened. DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg recently joined a dozen representatives from Arab American and Islamic organizations for an advance screening and discussion of the feature film.

A former Glendale immigration consultant who authorities say preyed on mostly Asian and ethnic Armenian immigrants in the San Gabriel Valley was sentenced to three years in state prison on Thursday for defrauding clients. Varoogan Ghahremanian, 43, had earlier pleaded no contest to five counts of theft and one count of money laundering. Superior Court Judge Craig Veals imposed the three-year prison term.

Poor planning and mismanagement caused Los Angeles County to waste $18.6 million on an ill-conceived courthouse construction boom, a state audit released Tuesday concluded, adding that potentially millions more dollars were squandered because county officials ignored the warning of an outside consulting firm that cautioned against building so many courtrooms.

Few investors are embracing small and mid-size stocks today. But for contrarians who want to shop in this beaten-up sector, Jim Collins may be able to offer some guidance. The veteran Orinda, Calif., advisor's stock-picking methodology has led his OTC Insight newsletter to annualized returns of 27.3% over the 10 years through June 30, according to the watchdog Hulbert Financial Digest in Alexandria, Va., which evaluates newsletters. That compares with a 17.