David Bohnett

Two national Latino organizations say that the Kennedy Center Honors awards exclude Latinos, and they have begun a public campaign to reform the program, which celebrates lifetime achievement in the performing arts and culminates in an annual telecast of ceremonies at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Felix Sanchez, who chairs the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, said Friday that George Stevens Jr.,...

During an emotionally charged evening of celebration and pride that included tributes to friends and lovers lost to AIDS, supporters of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center were honored Saturday at a gala that raised more than $450,000. The center is the largest organization of its kind in the world, tending to the health, legal, employment, educational, cultural and social service needs of more than 18,000 clients every month, said Gwenn A. Baldwin, the center's executive director.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has acquired a collection of Oceanic art considered to be one of the most significant private collections of its kind assembled in the 20th century. The acquisition, announced Tuesday by the museum, comprises 46 rare works purchased from the Masco Corp. Foundation of Detroit.

Only seven challengers have filed to run against three City Council incumbents in West Hollywood's April election, prompting all of the candidates to say that they will benefit from the small field. "It's a lot easier to get your points across to voters when there's a small group of people running," said Mayor John Heilman, who is seeking reelection along with incumbent council members Helen Albert and Stephen Schulte.

In the frenzy to build traffic on the Web, community sites are reverting to a tried-and-true marketing tactic to build up their homesteads: bribery. Got Web pages devoted to a Warner Bros. television show--say, "Babylon 5" or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"? Then come to AcmeCity, which soon will reward those willing to move their pages to the Warners Bros. site with props used in Warner's shows or perhaps gift certificates to its online store, said Jim Moloshok, president of Warner Bros. Online.

Grammy-winning pop star Beck has sold the Pasadena house he bought a year ago. Beck, 27, plans to play an acoustic show May 8 at the Wiltern Theatre. His folk-country CD "Mutations" was released in the fall. His next album is expected to be a sequel to his Grammy-winning "Odelay." He bought a smaller home on the Westside a few months ago, after he and his girlfriend, fashion stylist Leigh Limon, decided to flee the summer heat of Pasadena.

Deputy Mayor Rocky Delgadillo has received a total of $424,250 in free advertising space for his campaign to become Los Angeles' next city attorney, as a second billboard company disclosed a large independent expenditure on his behalf. As the campaign against Councilman Mike Feuer entered the last two weeks, Regency Outdoor Advertising reported to city ethics officials that it had contributed $125,000 worth of billboard space to Delgadillo.

"All this -- it's a lot of fun," maestro Gustavo Dudamel said Thursday night at the inaugural gala for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, regarding all the hoopla surrounding his arrival. It wasn't just Saturday's free concert at the Hollywood Bowl, his picture on city buses and the free Bravo Gustavo app for iPhone users. The pieces of confetti that rained down on concertgoers following the event at Walt Disney Concert Hall had his name printed on them in boldface capital letters.

Attracting more than 1,000 people and raising nearly $5 million, the Sept. 25 "Unmasking" of the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art brought together some of L.A.'s most prominent faces from finance, real estate, entertainment and art. "It's so joyful ? we gave a party and everybody came," said Wendy Goldberg, host committee member, along with Jane Nathanson, Shelli Azoff, David Bohnett, Eva Chow, David Geffen, Michael Milken, Carole Bayer Sager, Terry Semel, Florence Sloan and Bobby Kotick.