ARTReinstated: Artist Willie Middlebrook, who was fired...

ART

Reinstated: Artist Willie Middlebrook, who was fired in April from his city civil service position for alleged wrongdoing, has been reinstated as an instructor at the Los Angeles William Reagh Photography Center. In a report issued in early October but only implemented this week, the Board of Civil Service Commissioners ruled that the Cultural Affairs Department failed to sustain claims that Middlebrook had engaged in payroll fraud by falsifying a neighborhood worker’s time sheets while serving as director of the Watts Towers Arts Center in 1993. Middlebrook was transferred to the Photography Center after the alleged incident, and later terminated. He served as curator of exhibitions at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions while his appeal was pending.

Bidding War: “Oranges and Wrappers,” a sparkling early 20th-Century still-life by William Joseph McCloskey, was sold for $464,500 on Tuesday at Los Angeles’ Butterfield & Butterfield. The auction house had estimated the painting’s value at $100,000 to $150,000, but the price soared as two East Coast bidders competed by telephone against members of the audience. An unidentified private collector in L.A. finally won out, setting an auction record for the little-known American artist.

TELEVISION

Vegas Tales: Grammy-winning rap music star Sir Mix-A-Lot (real name: Anthony Ray) has been cast in the title role of “The Watcher,” an hourlong drama series set to premiere Jan. 17 on the new United Paramount Network. The rapper’s character, who is secretly holed-up in a darkened Las Vegas hotel room, watches numerous TV monitors that pick up every sound and movement in the city. He then narrates tales of “power, lust and greed gone awry in a city whose cast of characters . . . symbolize the best and worst of the American dream.”

Supporting Public TV: U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) is asking colleagues to join him in urging Speaker-elect Newt Gingrich (R.-Ga.) to reconsider his proposal to “zero out” federal funding for the Corp. for Public Broadcasting. In a letter to fellow representatives, Engel says: “As a father and former educator, I appreciate the value of the programming on public television. I dare say there is not a member of Congress with children who has not relied on Big Bird or Fred Rogers to help teach important lessons to our youngsters.” Engel’s letter lauds the “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” and William F. Buckley’s “Firing Line.” It also says that “public broadcasting enjoys widespread support” and that a Republican-led attempt earlier this year to rescind its funding was defeated by a vote of 384-42.

Anchors Away!: NBC’s “Weekend Today” is facing some changes. Co-anchor Jackie Nespral is leaving after the Jan. 1 broadcast to become an anchor at WTVJ, an NBC-owned station in her native Miami. Anchor Mike Schneider, who was brought in to be on a subsequently canceled newsmagazine, reportedly has not been happy on “Weekend Today” and plans to leave this spring. And weatherman Al Roker, who will be subbing several weekdays for “Today” weatherman Willard Scott this spring, also may cut back on his time on “Weekend Today.”

MOVIES

Whistling With Lloyd Webber: Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is working on a $15-million musical film version of the 1961 British movie “Whistle Down the Wind,” which starred Alan Bates and Hayley Mills. Lloyd Webber is writing the film’s music, pop composer-lyricist Jim Steinman (“Total Eclipse of the Heart”) is writing the lyrics, and the screenplay is being written by Patricia Knop. No studio has been attached to the film, which is being financed through Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful film company, although talks have reportedly been held with Polygram Filmed Entertainment. Lloyd Webber and Steinman have mentioned Johnny Depp and Kirsten Dunst (“Interview With the Vampire”) as possible stars, but a Lloyd Webber spokesman on Thursday called news of their casting “very premature.”

LEGAL FILE

Looming Jail Time: A New York judge sent Tupac Shakur’s manager to jail Wednesday to await sentencing on a sex abuse conviction and said he plans to do the same with Shakur once the rapper recovers from gunshot wounds received in a robbery two weeks ago. State Supreme Court Justice Daniel Fitzgerald said he usually jails convicted defendants when he plans to sentence them to prison. “I believe some jail time will be appropriate,” he said. “The only question is how much.” Fitzgerald issued an arrest warrant for Shakur, but stayed it for at least a week after Shakur’s doctor said that moving the rapper could endanger him. Shakur, 23, and his road manager, Charles Fuller, 24, were convicted Dec. 1 of sexually abusing a 21-year-old woman in 1993. Both men will be sentenced on Jan. 17.

Wayne Newton’s Side: Entertainer Wayne Newton admitted in federal bankruptcy court in Nevada on Wednesday that he bought a sculpture and a painting by Renoir from Sotheby’s auction house after filing for Chapter 11 protection in August, 1992. But he denied creditors’ accounts that he frittered away nearly $163,000 in auctions on other artwork, a guitar pick used by Elvis Presley and a cigarette case that belonged to Errol Flynn, saying that those purchases were either gifts or bought by friends using his Sotheby’s account. Newton also disputed creditors who said he didn’t have the earning power to justify his financial reorganization plan. Responding to one lawyer’s comment that his popularity has waned, Newton said, “I guess I’d rather be somewhat of a has-been than a never-was.”