THE ARTS

Proposal Links NEA, CPB: U.S. Rep. Pat Williams (D-Mont.) on Friday introduced legislation to create an “American Cultural Trust” to ensure stable funding for the embattled Corp. for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and Institute of Museum Services. Called “The 1% for Culture Act of 1995,” the bill would mandate that a one-time appropriation of 1% of the federal budget--roughly $12 billion--be invested in a national trust, and that interest from that trust would then become the sole funding source for the four agencies. According to the congressman’s spokesperson, the first year’s interest on the trust would be about $700 million, approximately the same amount as the combined current budgets of the agencies. Williams said he views the bill as a way to “kick start” congressional reauthorization for the NEA and NEH, an action that has been a source of debate among Republican lawmakers and must be taken by September for the agencies to continue. The Senate, meanwhile, voted Thursday night to cut the NEA’s $167.4-million 1995-96 budget by $5 million, the same deduction recommended last month by the House of Representatives.

RADIO & TV

Hewitt vs. Murdoch: “60 Minutes” creator Don Hewitt and Fox mogul Rupert Murdoch got into a war of words Friday over who called whom about Murdoch’s possibly buying CBS’ powerhouse newsmagazine. Hewitt, whose show has earned an estimated $1.5 billion for CBS in its 26-year history, told The Times that Murdoch called him “out of the blue” last month and asked, “Do you think (CBS chairman) Larry Tisch would sell me ’60 Minutes’?” Hewitt said he told him to call Tisch, adding that “I assume Larry would want $500 million for it, including the library of past shows.” But Murdoch issued a statement saying it had been Hewitt who suggested he buy “60 Minutes,” and that he had responded, “Don’t be silly. The only people who watch ’60 Minutes’ are the grandparents of the Fox audience.” Hewitt called the statement “a colossal lie.”

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Apology Not Accepted: An uncharacteristic apology Thursday from nationally syndicated shock jock Howard Stern wasn’t good enough for the Texas-based League of United Latin American Citizens, which said in Friday’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram that it will press ahead with a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission and a boycott of Stern’s sponsors. The group is retaliating against Stern’s Monday broadcast, in which he mocked slain tejano singer Selena on the day of her funeral by playing her music accompanied by gunfire sounds. “His apology is not acceptable,” said Belen Robles, the group’s president. Robles said the group would advise Latinos not to buy any products or services from Stern’s advertisers “until they stop supporting this program.”

POP/ROCK

Lingerie Closing: Club Lingerie, the top spot on the Hollywood rock scene for much of the ‘80s, is going out of business. Owner Kurt Fisher says that the Sunset Boulevard club--a launching pad for such L.A. bands as Los Lobos and the Blasters, and the site of local debuts by many current superstars, including R.E.M.--has lost out in recent years to new, larger venues such as the House of Blues. Fisher expects to complete the sale of the club by early May, and is planning a series of shows to commemorate the Lingerie’s 14-year run. There’s no word yet on the new owners’ plans.

MOVIES

A Cardinal’s ‘Priest’ Take: New York Cardinal John J. O’Connor has joined critics of the movie “Priest,” calling it “viciously anti-Catholic,” although he has not seen the film. “Your movie is little more than the kind of thing kids used to take delight in scrawling on the walls in men’s rooms. . . . What you have done is cheap and onerous,” the cardinal wrote to Miramax Films and its parent company Walt Disney in the weekly Catholic New York. “The movie has to be as viciously anti-Catholic as anything that has ever rotted on the silver screen.” O’Connor said he had formed his opinion from reviews of the film, which depicts five priests--including one who is gay and another who is a sexually active heterosexual. The film has prompted more than 20 groups, including the 20,000-member Catholic League and the politically influential Christian Coalition, to boycott Disney.

QUICK TAKES

A bomb scare at New York’s ABC studios Friday caused the evacuation of “Live With Regis & Kathie Lee,” which was replaced on the air for its last 15 minutes by a taped episode with Tony Bennett. A police search turned up no explosives. . . . “Cagney & Lacey” co-stars Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly, and musicians including Salt ‘N Pepa, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Luscious Jackson and Joan Jett are among the scheduled speakers and performers at a National Organization for Women rally on Capitol Hill Sunday. The rally will protest violence against women as well as “the new Newt Congress and its attacks on women.” . . . The correct date for Simpson trial witness Denise Brown’s appearance on CBS’ “Late Late Show With Tom Snyder” is April 21.