Ken Crane's is a familiar brand in Southern California, a mini-chain that has provided the region's residents with televisions and components for more than six decades.

SAN DIEGO: Newcastle Brown Ale has partnered with celebrity chef Sam "the Cooking Guy" Zein in an effort to make holiday-season entertaining less stressful.

The impasse between the WGA and studios opens opportunities for Web content providers

He's covered business at the Los Angeles Times, the film industry for The Hollywood Reporter -- and since 2001, he's focused on both.

LOS ANGELES: In the name of unity (and photo-ops), the Writers Guild of America, West marked Day 5 of its strike against the studios and networks of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) this morning with a massive, rush-hour rally just outside LA's Fox studios.

TORRANCE, CA: Lexus has begun an educational program and contest aimed at getting middle- and high-school students actively involved in improving the planet.

An e-mail Q&A with Julie Freeman Bradler julie.freeman-bradler@edelman.com, SVP and deputy practice leader of Edelman's tourism & lifestyle practice [www.edelman.com/speak_up/tourism], New York

An e-mail Q&A with Rene Mack rmack@webershandwick.com, president of Weber Shandwick's travel & lifestyle practice, New York

New York: The Curacao Tourist Board and PR partner Hill & Knowlton have launched a media and consumer relations campaign focused on attracting North American tourists to the Caribbean island, which until now tailored outreach mostly to Dutch and South American travelers.

TORRANCE, CA: Lexus has launched an educational program and contest designed to get middle- and high-school students actively involved in improving the planet.