Reuben H Fleet Space Center

For those fascinated by stars--the cosmic collection, not the Hollywood kind--Southern California has a galaxy of offerings. Especially noteworthy this fall is Mars, the solar system's fourth planet, which swings nearer to Earth than it has at any time in the last 17 years. As might be expected with such an event, astronomy clubs and the staffs of planetariums and observatories throughout the region have been working at the speed of light to ready special evening shows and viewings of Mars.

Big, hairy bugs are a sure-fire way to grab a film audience. B-movie directors learned that long ago. National Geographic documentary producers have made careers out of it. Now, a team of OMNIMAX producers has brought the Big Bug Theory of filmmaking to the big-screen format. "Tropical Rainforest," now at the Reuben H.

Big, hairy bugs are a sure-fire way to grab a film audience. B-movie directors learned that long ago. National Geographic documentary producers have made careers out of it. Now, a team of OMNIMAX producers has brought the Big Bug Theory of filmmaking to the big-screen format. "Tropical Rainforest," now at the Reuben H.

For those fascinated by stars--the cosmic collection, not the Hollywood kind--Southern California has a galaxy of offerings. Especially noteworthy this fall is Mars, the solar system's fourth planet, which swings nearer to Earth than it has at any time in the last 17 years. As might be expected with such an event, astronomy clubs and the staffs of planetariums and observatories throughout the region have been working at the speed of light to ready special evening shows and viewings of Mars.

Dissident shareholder Ed Schmidt claims he has 153,078 revocable proxies ready to vote at Crown Bancorp's Aug. 1 annual meeting. That's about 24% of Crown's outstanding shares. Schmidt disclosed the number Thursday during a deposition for Crown's lawsuit against him, charging that he has illegally obtained the proxies.

Lester Novros, Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker who pioneered large-format film technology, helped the world visualize outer space and worked on such innovative motion pictures as "2001: A Space Odyssey," has died at the age of 91. Novros, a much-loved USC film professor whose students included George Lucas, died Sept. 10 in Sherman Oaks.