POLITICAL CHAIRS: It looks like Valley school...

POLITICAL CHAIRS: It looks like Valley school board member Julie Korenstein will run for the state Assembly seat held by Barbara Friedman, who in turn will probably run for the state Senate. Luckily for Korenstein, she’s untainted by association with the less-than-beloved school board, polls say (B5). . . . Hitch: Korenstein lives five blocks outside Friedman’s district. Solution: She’ll move, if need be.

BY MAMMON POSSESSED: OK, after that breakfast of leftovers, time to get serious: Ready, set, shop! The gift-buying season gets its traditional launch with survival hints on local malls--how to choose and park, how to avoid predators (B1, B6). . . . Big tip: Be organized. Plan all tasks ahead of time and stick to the list. Yeah, sure.

THE WAY IT WAS: Even though “Jingle Bells” may refer more to cash registers than sleighs these days, many still celebrate the holidays the old-fashioned way--with bells and thistles, in Dickens top hats or billowy skirts, trimming the tree on Christmas Eve, decking the halls with Victorian dolls. A Woodland Hills company scrapped its office party and--in the true holiday spirit--will play Santa to disadvantaged children. See Valley Life! Page 3

BACH TO ROCK: Like your Christmas music by choirs ethereal? Or heavy on electric guitar? The sacred and profane converge in the Valley this season, with performances ranging from Barry Manilow to the Angeles Chorale singing Gabrielli’s “Magnificat.” See Valley Life! Page 72.

GREATEST OF EASE: Once painfully shy, Jason Hartman brings new confidence to his senior year on the Thousand Oaks High basketball team (C14). With a college scholarship in his pocket, the 6-foot-6 Hartman says he slam-dunks because “the crowd gets me so riled, I feel like I’m on Cloud Nine.”