ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

THE ARTS

Where the Dollars Are: U.S. states plan to spend a record $396 million this year on the arts, a hike of more than $30 million over last year’s spending, according to a report from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. The total, accounting for the 50 states and six U.S. territories, dwarfs spending by the federally funded National Endowment for the Arts, which runs just under $100 million annually. The arts organization attributed the states’ increase to “a bipartisan effort” and said that governors and legislators now “realize the value of work-force skills the arts provide [to] children and the central role that [the arts] play in making our communities better places.” California, the most populous state, had the highest projected total at $47.5 million, but Hawaii ranked first in per capita spending, at $5.13 per resident, compared with California’s $1.46. Texas ranked last among the 50 states, spending less than 27 cents per person. . . . Meanwhile, a group of actors and drama students--including “Chicago Hope” star Hector Elizondo and activist William Baldwin--lobbied on Capitol Hill on Tuesday for more federal arts spending, including a $50-million boost for the NEA. To bolster their case, the lobbyists released a UCLA study that found that students who studied the arts in grades eight to 10 made higher grades, scored better on standardized tests and were less likely to drop out of school than those who had few arts classes.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Final Frontier: “Star Trek: Voyager” will face its last season on TV next year, but UPN says it has already begun talks for a new series to be based on the original “Star Trek.” “Voyager,” led by Kate Mulgrew as Capt. Kathryn Janeway, helped launch the fledgling network in 1995 and has remained a cornerstone of its programming ever since. It remains popular, but UPN and the show’s producers figure that by the end of next season, its seventh, “Voyager” will have ventured to all the places on the fringes of space that it can. “Voyager” is the fourth series in the wildly profitable “Star Trek” franchise.

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Commuters Get an Earful: A study commissioned by the Southern California Broadcasters Assn. will report today that 83% of Los Angeles and Orange County residents frequently listen to the radio while commuting to and from work, with another 12% tuning in occasionally. Overall, radio listening was the dominant commuting activity, according to the Arbitron/Edison Media Research study, surpassing listening to CDs (12%), music cassettes (11%) and books on tape (10%). Cell-phone usage was reported at 3%. The average adult spends 33 minutes listening to the radio on both his morning drive and afternoon commute, the study found.

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Prism Winners: Oscar nominee “The Insider” received the feature-film Prism Award on Tuesday for its “accurate depiction” of drug, alcohol or tobacco use. Other Prism winners included NBC’s “Suddenly Susan” and “ER,” ABC’s “Once and Again,” WB’s “Smart Guy,” CBS’ “As the World Turns” and HBO’s “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.” Special awards went to actors Michael Keaton and Kathy Baker (for the film “Clean and Sober”), and to talk-show host Leeza Gibbons, documentary producer Arnold Shapiro and actor-activist Martin Sheen.

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Internet Qualms: “Law & Order” star Jerry Orbach has sued the popular Internet site EBay, claiming that sale advertisements on its Web site for two of his 1958 acting contracts gave users a clear view of his Social Security number. As a result, Orbach, 64, has suffered “identity theft” and credit card fraud that have damaged his credit rating and hurt his personal and professional life as well as his reputation, the New York lawsuit claims. An EBay spokesman said the company’s lawyers had not yet seen the suit but noted that the posting was removed last week.

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New to Whom?: ABC’s “The Practice” scored its highest rating ever for a rerun Sunday, attracting 17.3 million viewers. One problem: Millions of those tuning in didn’t know it was a repeat, since Regis Philbin signed off “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” by telling viewers to stay tuned for an “all new” episode. ABC said the network had an original scheduled when “Millionaire” was shot and inadvertently neglected to amend it when a rerun was inserted.

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Dueling Kennedy Projects: Tina Andrews, who wrote CBS’ recent Sally Hemmings miniseries, has signed to write and co-executive produce a CBS miniseries to be based on Donald Spoto’s book “Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life.” NBC, meanwhile, is working on a miniseries based on J. Randy Taraborrelli’s Kennedy wives book, “Jackie, Ethel and Joan,” to be written by playwright David Stevens (“The Sum of Us”).

QUICK TAKES

Fox’s new comedy “Titus” got off to a promising start, attracting more than 14 million viewers for its premiere Monday night, based on preliminary estimates. . . . Former “Picket Fences” star Tom Skerritt has signed to take on Gary Cooper’s Oscar-winning role in TBS’ remake of the western classic “High Noon.” The movie is set to premiere on the cable channel in August. . . . Cable’s TNT will air “An All-Star Tribute to Joni Mitchell” on April 16 at 9 p.m., with Shawn Colvin, Elton John, Wynonna Judd, Chaka Kahn, Diana Krall, k.d. lang, Richard Thompson and Cassandra Wilson among those scheduled to perform highlights from Mitchell’s oeuvre. Actress Ashley Judd will host the program. . . . TNT is also planning an original TV movie based on the life of late actor James Dean for premiere in 2001. A casting search is underway for the lead actor. . . . KLON-FM (88.1), the all-jazz public radio station, raised $731,139 in its winter fund drive, held March 1-12. The station, which for the first time included an online “e-day” for pledges, surpassed its $700,000 goal.