BRIEFLY LUNCH FORUM SET FOR CANDIDATES.

LANCASTER - City Council and mayoral candidates will speak at March 10 forums sponsored by the Antelope Valley Chambers of Commerce.

Questions will be posed to the candidates by representatives of local news media.

Mayoral candidates will speak at the chambers' 11:30 a.m. March 10 luncheon at the Park Plaza Convention Center, 44916 10th St. W. The luncheon is open to the public.

The luncheon cost is $15 for chamber members and $20 for nonmembers. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover are accepted.

City Council candidates will speak at a forum at 6:30 p.m. March 10 at Lancaster High School, 44701 32nd St. W. There is no charge for the evening forum and the public is invited.

- Daily News

100 local firms to join in show

VALENCIA - The third annual Business-to-Business Show, hosted by the Valley Industrial Association, is scheduled for March 25 at Valencia Commerce Center. The event will host more than 100 local businesses.

The show is designed to allow Santa Clarita Valley businesses to mingle and learn what types of products and services are available in their own back yards. B2B organizers hope it will help accelerate self-sufficiency of the valley's business community.

The show is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call VIA at [phone] or visit the Web site at www.via.com.

- Daily News

Water agency rep to give lunch talk

PALMDALE - Antelope Valley East Kern Water Agency board member Frank Donato will speak at the Antelope Valley Hispanic Chamber luncheon at 11:30 a.m. today at the Holiday Inn, 38650 5th St. W.

The cost is $15 for chamber members and $20 for nonmembers. For more information, call [phone].

Engineer honored for his NASA work

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Byron L. Simpson Jr., a software engineer at NASA's Dryden Flight Center, was honored for his engineering work.

Simpson was named a ``Modern-day Technology Leader'' during the 18th annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference in Baltimore.

The recognition goes to ``men and women of color who are demonstrating performance and will shape the courses of engineering, science, and technology in the future,'' said Tyrone D. Taborn, chief executive officer of the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference.

Simpson began his association with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during summer positions in 1999 and 2000 at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. He was an intern in the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorites in Engineering and Science program at Dryden during the summer of 2001 and 2002.

He accepted a permanent position as a computer software engineer at the center in January 2003 following completion of a master of science degree in computer science from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greenboro, N.C. Simpson earned a bachelor of science degree in computer science from the same university in 2001.

- Daily News

PAC will back issues, people

SANTA CLARITA - The Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce has formed a political action committee to support pro-business candidates and ballot measures on a nonpartisan basis.

The group will hold its inaugural meeting at 5:30 p.m. March 11 at Valencia Acura. Assemblyman Keith Richman will be the guest speaker. There will be no admission charge, but businesses and individuals participating are asked to make contributions to the committee.

Workers' compensation reform and state laws that cost jobs are among the issues the PAC will address, chairman Hunt Braly said.

Members of the committee board are Richard Grandinetti, Larry Mankin, Don Fleming, Duane Harte, Marlee Lauffer, Mike McGrath, Larry Rasmussen and Rick Winsman.

Among the businesses and individuals supporting the effort are Blue Barrel Disposal, Centre Pointe Business Park, The Newhall Land and Farming Company, Valencia Acura's Don and Cheri Fleming, Connie Worden Roberts, Greg Amsler, Golden West K-9, Kim Kurowski, Pam and Steve Ingram, Diana Vose and the law firm Hacker, Kanowsky & Braly.

- Daily News