Thalia

Constelacion Agrupacion Teatral, a nonprofit Latino arts group, will perform a season-ending show Friday at the Van Nuys Recreation Center. The show, "Noches De Talento Latino"--or Nights of Latin Talent--will feature graduates of the program's class of 1999 performing popular Latino music, drama and comedy. The musical portion will include impersonations of such famous Latino artists as Thalia, Luis Miguel and Ricky Martin. They will be followed by 15-minute drama and comedy skits.

Five pay telephones will be installed in the city's park and beach areas within the next month, partly in response to the series of assaults against gay men, city Finance Director Dick Reese said Tuesday. General Telephone Co. agreed to install the telephones on public land at no cost to Laguna Beach. Heisler Park, where several attacks occurred, will now have two phones about 2 city blocks apart, Reese said.

Singer-songwriter Marco Antonio Solis has engineered a hugely successful career by carefully tiptoeing the line that separates sentimental mush from inspired romanticism. Like a consummate magician who pulls a series of fuzzy white rabbits out of the same old hat, the Mexican pop icon embellishes his earnest lyrics of love and suffering with seductive hooks, as enigmatic as they are addictive.

Seeking to learn more about the incident, friends and family of a drive-by shooting victim handed out fliers this week near the location where the 16-year-old girl was killed. Amber Laskey was fatally shot Sept. 5 in the 1900 block of 112th Street, authorities said. A car pulled up about 7:45 p.m. and opened fire as she sat outside with friends, talking and enjoying the evening. Since then, the search for Amber's killers has been ongoing, sheriff's investigators said.

Ever been chillin' (relaxing) with your homies (friends) when one of them blurts out: "Ay yo trip, that punk ain't got no phat pocket." Unless you're down (familiar) with the rap scene (a highly energetic musical subculture relying heavily upon bass and baggy clothes), you'd probably wonder what the heck he was saying. But if you're close to a computer, you could quickly translate the sentence by visiting a rap Web site at http://www.sci.kun.nl/thalia/rapdict.

After years of ignoring it, CBS is finally getting into the cable television business today with the launch of a channel called Eye on People. But don't look for it in Southern California yet. With scores of cable networks fighting for limited channel space, CBS says only 2 million people nationwide will have access to Eye on People initially. None of those subscribers are in the Southland, but CBS executives say they expect to have news soon of distribution there.

A homeless former weightlifting champion who punched German President Richard von Weizsaecker in the face told police he wanted a day in court to talk about the president's links with the Nazis. Von Weizsaecker, 73, suffered a cut lip and a bruised nose after being punched Thursday night outside the Thalia theater in Hamburg. He was dazed but stayed for the performance. Bodyguards apprehended the attacker, who appeared deranged, police said. He was identified Friday as Gunther Horst Roersch, 48.

Tito Guizar, one of the first Mexican actors to star in Hollywood, acting alongside Bob Hope and Roy Rogers, has died at age 91. Guizar died Friday in San Antonio, where he was visiting relatives for the Christmas holidays. Funeral arrangements were incomplete. Guizar had a seven-decade entertainment career in Mexico and starred in at least 40 films. His presence on screen was still highly prized by directors of TV soap operas in his native land.