PEOPLE WATCHStork for Sinead: Announcing that she...

PEOPLE WATCH

Stork for Sinead: Announcing that she is expecting a baby in February, Sinead O’Connor has dropped off the Lollapalooza ’95 tour and returned to her home in Ireland. In a statement released Monday, O’Connor, who also has an 8-year-old son, said she knew she was pregnant before the tour began on July 4, but “thought I would be able to cope with the workload.” However, bouts with nausea and the effects of performing in the Midwest during its severe heat wave led her to worry about the health of her baby. Her final show on the tour came Saturday in 100 degree-plus heat near Chicago. Lollapalooza organizers were caught by surprise by the announcement and were uncertain whether they would recruit an act to replace O’Connor or carry on with a main stage lineup that still features Sonic Youth, Hole, Cypress Hill and others. The tour will come to Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on Aug. 14-15.

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Carjacking Arrests: Two men were arrested in New York Monday after commandeering Queen Latifah’s BMW and shooting and wounding her bodyguard in the process. The rapper-actress, who stars on Fox’s “Living Single,” and a third person in the car were not hurt. She had just parked her 1995 car on a Harlem street early Sunday when two gunmen approached and demanded the three get out. They complied, but one of the men fired, hitting 22-year-old Sean Moon in the chest, said police. Moon’s condition at Harlem Hospital was upgraded Monday from critical to stable. Ricardo Rodriguez and Mickey Brown, both 18, were charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault, possession of stolen property and possession of a weapon. The car was recovered in the New York City borough of Queens. Police don’t believe the carjackers had chosen the auto because they knew who Queen Latifah was, but because it was an expensive car.

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Brown to Fight Charge: Divine Brown, who was arrested last month with actor Hugh Grant, will contest a charge of lewd conduct stemming from the incident, her attorney said Monday. Brown, whose real name is Stella Marie Thompson, will appear in Hollywood Municipal Court today to face the same misdemeanor charge to which Grant last week pleaded no contest. Her attorney, Richard Nahijian, told Reuters that Brown would contest the charge and would also seek a hearing on two probation violation charges. According to the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, Brown has two prior convictions in Los Angeles for soliciting an act of prostitution.

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Busey to Stay on Drug Program: Gary Busey, charged with cocaine possession after a drug overdose, was ordered Monday to continue a drug diversion program for two years. “I’m on the program for the rest of my life,” the actor said after a judge ordered him to remain in the outpatient program. He spent 28 days at a drug rehabilitation center and has had medical care since a girlfriend found him slumped unconscious May 4 outside his Malibu home. Busey, 50, was charged May 10 with possession of cocaine and other drugs, and being under the influence of cocaine. The charges will be dismissed if he successfully completes the diversion program, said his lawyer, Harland Braun.

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Musician Faces Assault Hearing: Rocker Rick Allen faces an assault hearing on Aug. 23, when he will find out if he’ll be charged for allegedly beating his wife at Los Angeles International Airport, officials said. Allen, the one-armed drummer for British heavy metal group Def Leppard, was arrested earlier this month after police said he slammed his wife Stacy’s head into a wall and tried to choke her. He was booked for spousal abuse and posted bail. A spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said Allen would state his case at a private, informal hearing.

TELEVISION

KABC-TV Seeks Alternate Site: KABC-TV has begun a search for alternate sites to build a new 100,000-square-foot facility, the station announced Monday. In a statement, Lawrence J. Pollock, president of Capital Cities/ABC-Owned Television Stations, said: “KABC has outgrown its current space. Moreover, as the station adapts to new technologies and acquires state-of-the-art equipment, its space requirements will continue to grow. Moving into new facilities . . . will allow us to make this transition with the least disruption possible to our ongoing activities.” The station now occupies 60,000 square feet at 4151 Prospect Ave. . . . In separate developments, KCOP-TV anchor Ellen Leyva will join KABC-TV as a health reporter in October, and Marianne Banister, co-anchor of the 11:30 a.m. weekday newscast on KABC, will leave the station in late summer or early fall to pursue other opportunities. No replacement has been named for either anchor.

QUICK TAKES

“Batman Forever” broke British box-office records by taking in $1.91 million on its opening day, Warner Bros. said Monday. That beat the record held by “Jurassic Park” and completes a hat trick of records for the third Batman film--the biggest opening weekend in the United States and the biggest opening day in Australia, the studio said. . . . Catherine McCormack, who plays the wife in Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart,” gets the title role in “The Honest Courtesan,” Marshall Herskovitz’s upcoming film about Veronica Franco, a courtesan and poet in the late 1500s.