EARTH DAY: Today 12 young women, ages...

EARTH DAY: Today 12 young women, ages 16 to 18, will canoe 13 miles from Marina del Rey to Malibu and back to raise funds for Heal the Bay’s laboratory scientists and to make the community more aware of the oil, trash, sewage and other ocean-borne toxins.

LOVE AND LIFE: Writer Judith Viorst will discuss love, change and growth in two lectures presented as part of the University of Judaism’s public lecture series. She appears tonight at 8 p.m. at Valley Beth Shalom, 15739 Ventura Blvd., and Monday at 8 p.m. at Sinai Temple, 10400 Wilshire Blvd.

MILLIONS FOR ADVICE: The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday will examine the way it doles out millions of dollars in consulting fees like those paid to a firm hired to oversee a controversial trash incinerator. The firm’s contract swelled from $15,000 to $4.2 million in eight years. The meeting is at 8:30 a.m. at City Hall.

BUSINESS TAX: Santa Monica business owners are expected to pack Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to protest a proposed increase in business license taxes that would double fees for professionals such as doctors and lawyers, and eliminate the $5,000 limit on fees charged to auto dealers. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at the City Hall council chambers.