Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

POP/ROCK

No Reason to Be ‘Blue’: LeAnn Rimes, the 13-year-old country singer, continues to register impressive sales figures with her debut album, “Blue.” The collection, which entered the national sales chart at No. 4 last week, climbs to No. 3 this week after selling 129,000 copies. New York rapper Nas holds down the No. 1 spot for the third straight week--but it was close. His “It Was Written” sold 145,000 copies last week, just 1,000 more than Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill.” 2Pac’s “How Do U Want It” tops the singles chart for the fourth week.

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Tour Discord: Singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith has left her co-headlining tour with the Irish group the Chieftains following a dispute over the opening act, young Canadian “Celtic-punk” fiddler Ashley MacIsaac. Michelle Shocked has taken over the middle slot on remaining shows, including Monday’s engagement at Universal Amphitheatre. Griffith, her manager said, was upset that MacIsaac’s set was running overtime, squeezing both Griffith’s set and a closing encore in which she joined the Chieftains on stage. He says that her requests for the situation to be rectified were ignored. “The Chieftains have nothing against Nanci Griffith,” said that group’s spokesman. “But they support MacIsaac.”

RADIO

New Wake-Up Call: Well-known Southland radio personality Jim “The Poorman” Trenton, the originator of KROQ-FM’s popular “Loveline” call-in show, will begin work today as morning personality for the new dance-oriented Groove Radio, heard on Santa Monica’s KACD-FM and Newport Beach’s KBCD-FM (both 103.1). To be called “Mornings With the Poorman” and featuring the original “Loveline” format and celebrity guest “love doctors” to advise callers, the program will air weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. Other on-air talent in the Groove Radio lineup announced Wednesday includes former KPWR-FM (106) deejay Joe “The Boomer” Servantez, from 9 a.m.-noon; China Smith, longtime personality with the now defunct KMET-FM, from 3 to 6 a.m., and previously announced Groove Radio program director Egil “Swedish Eagle” Aalvik, in the afternoon drive slot from 3-6 p.m.

LEGAL FILE

Warren G Arrested: Rapper Warren G--whose real name is Warren Griffin III--was arrested in West Hollywood early Wednesday after deputies allegedly found a loaded 9-mm assault-type handgun in his truck, a sheriff’s department spokesman said. The deputies, who were answering a disturbance call outside of a nightclub, allegedly spotted the rapper getting into a GMC Yukon truck that fit the description of a vehicle used July 17 in a nearby shooting. The sheriff’s spokesman said it was not determined if Griffin had been involved in the shooting, and the investigation was continuing. However, a spokeswoman for Griffin told the Times Wednesday that there are documents to prove that the rapper has been in a North Hollywood recording studio “practically around the clock for the last month or so,” and that any weapons he has are unloaded when in his possession.

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Slayer Suit: The parents of a 15-year-old San Luis Obispo girl who was raped, tortured and fatally stabbed by three teenage boys last July have sued the rock band Slayer, accusing them of inspiring the murder. Lisanne Pahler, mother of the slain Elyse Marie Pahler, said she sued after learning from investigators that the boys had modeled their own band, Hatred, after Slayer and had been influenced by the group’s lyrics. Slayer was a pioneer of the so-called “death metal” sound with albums including “Show No Mercy” and “Reign in Blood.” Slayer’s label, American Recordings, which is also named in the suit, refused to comment.

ART

Ritts in Boston: Los Angeles-based fashion photographer Herb Ritts--known for his striking celebrity portraits as well as black-and-white video work for such pop stars as Janet Jackson and Madonna--will have his first full-scale museum exhibition, “Herb Ritts: Work” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this fall. The show of more than 200 photographs opens Oct. 22 and runs through February, 1997. A museum spokeswoman said the exhibition was planned to show the museum is interested in contemporary work “not commonly associated with the Boston scene.” Ritts’ works are shown locally at La Brea Avenue’s Fahey/Klein Gallery.

MOVIES

How ‘bout Selma and Heloise?: Screenwriter Callie Khouri isn’t wild about the latest co-optation of the names of her most famous movie creations. “I haven’t been offended by almost any use of the names--and that includes a zoo that named its two-headed snake Thelma and Louise,” Khouri said. But she draws the line at subway tunneling machines. That’s what one of the companies working on the Los Angeles subway system calls the machinery. “The point of the movie is that my characters never really get mired down or hit bottom--and that’s what these machines have done,” she said. Declaring that she is an avid hiker in the Hollywood Hills who is concerned about the environmental impact that tunneling may have on the Santa Monica Mountains, Khouri spoke Tuesday at a protest and news conference staged by state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica).

QUICK TAKES

Former ‘70s TV partners Donny and Marie Osmond will perform together again on Friday’s “Rosie O’Donnell Show” (2 p.m., KNBC) as part of Donny’s efforts to apologize for an ill-conceived comment he made about O’Donnell’s weight during the show’s premiere week. The comment has since become a running joke by O’Donnell. . . . Maina Gielgud, the niece of actor Sir John Gielgud, has been named artistic director of the Royal Danish Ballet. She was previously the head of the Australian Ballet. . . . Memorial services for celebrity attorney Melvin M. Belli, who died July 9, will be held tonight at 7 at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westwood.