LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners awarded two, three-year contracts June 19 to The Rogers Group, for $750,000, and Hill & Knowlton, for $600,000, for upcoming communications initiatives related to The Port of Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON: The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) launched a new PR and ad campaign to battle what it calls "myths" and "inaccuracies" in the media about the use of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in foods.

In Douglas Adams' book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a computer program running for seven-and-a-half million years finally determines the answer to "life, the universe, and everything" is 42. This not-helpful answer requires a whole new program to determine what the question was in the first place.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA: The city of West Hollywood hopes a new PR campaign will catapult the roughly 37,000-person town into an international wedding destination for gay couples.

DEARBORN, MI: Ford Motor Co.'s communications team set up a series of experiential events to create buzz for its crossover SUV, Ford Flex, which is on its way to dealerships now.

Russ Berrie and Co. will introduce consumers to its new plush toy line, SeaPals, a part of its Applause brand, on July 2, at Ripley's Aquariums in Myrtle Beach, SC, and Gatlinburg, TN.

TAMPA, FL: Mixed martial arts organization Xtreme Fighting Championships (XFC) hired French/West/Vaughan as its first AOR to focus on media outreach and brand awareness in the crowded extreme-sport marketplace.

To succeed in the highly competitive Chicago local media market - hometown of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) - the liberal-leaning Huffington Post must do more than rely on its political coverage and focus on building a comprehensive local news presence, media experts say.

As one of the most respected events in snowboarding, the US Open, held March 20 to 23, 2008, seemed like a great place for SoBe to broadcast its name. But since the event is packed with products trying to gain coverage, SoBe was faced with the challenge of standing out. The company partnered with Burton snowboards to gain recognition and hired Fuse Marketing to boost its name.

When Greyhound launched its new Boltbus service, the company wanted to challenge all the prevailing stereotypes about bus travel in the competitive Northeastern market.