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

POP/ROCK

A Limper Bizkit Without Borland?

The bulletin, transmitted on the band’s Web site Friday, didn’t pull any punches: “Limp Bizkit and Wes Borland have amicably decided to part ways. Both ... will continue to pursue their respective musical careers.”

On Monday, frontman Fred Durst added his own thoughts about the departure of the band’s lead guitarist: “Life is unpredictable, and though we were shocked, we’re not discouraged,” he maintained.

Borland, who often appeared onstage in elaborate face and body paint, had been with the band since the Florida group got its start in 1994. His departure won’t affect the release of the Limp Bizkit remix LP, “New Old Songs,” in December.

Durst said that the first priority is “combing the globe in search of the illest guitar player known to man”--now that Borland is out of the picture.

Auditions will be held in cities nationwide beginning in late November.

Limp Bizkit surged to fame in 1999 with the hit “Nookie” and their second album, “Significant Other,” which sold 7.1 million copies in the U.S. and became a template of the rap-rock sound--a hybrid of metal music and hip-hop.

Durst, who has side jobs as a music executive and filmmaker, has been the group’s most famous face. Still, the colorful Borland is a fan favorite and key component of their hard-edged sound.

TELEVISION

CBS’ ‘Agency’ Moves Anthrax Episode

CBS has delayed Thursday’s episode of the new CIA-themed action series “The Agency” because the plot deals with an anthrax attack.

Originally scheduled for broadcast last week, the episode--which was shot in August--was preempted because of President Bush’s prime-time press conference. It is now being held until an unspecified date, with an episode about a hostage situation in Indonesia taking its place.

CBS previously postponed the pilot episode of the series, which focuses on efforts to thwart a terrorist bombing in London.

That episode has been rescheduled for next month, but a reference to Osama bin Laden has been excised.

Web Becomes a Popular Alternative for News

In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, a record number of people got their news from the Web--and may be making it a habit.

According to USA Today, Nielsen/NetRatings showed that about 21 million people watched “streamed” video newscasts from their workplace. Traffic to the sites of CNN, MSNBC and ABC News were up 110%, 70% and 108%, respectively.

“This is an indication that the Net is growing up a bit, going from infancy to adolescence and finding a proper role in the media,” said Nielsen analyst T.S. Kelly.

Merrill Brown, editor in chief of MSNBC.com, agreed.

“We’re not all sitting in front of the TV all day waiting for the news to come on,” he said.

MSNBC, which averaged about 3 million daily visits before Sept. 11, went up to 11 million a day later. Now, according to Brown, “no day is under 4.8 million.”

THE ARTS

NEA Grants Aidto NYC Arts Groups

The National Endowment for the Arts announced Tuesday that it will direct a $30,000 “extraordinary actions” grant--the maximum amount allowed for such emergency relief--to the New York State Council on the Arts to assist lower Manhattan arts organizations affected by the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

In the past, the arts endowment has provided special action grants to communities hit by natural disasters including the June floods in Houston and the February earthquake in Seattle, as well as tragedies such as the Columbine High School shooting.

Included on the list is the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, an independent presenting organization whose offices on a lower floor of the World Trade Center were destroyed (no employees were injured), and Three Legged Dog, another presenting group whose offices near the trade center were severely damaged.

State Council on the Arts Chairman Richard Schwartz told The Times that his organization may also direct funds to artists who had studio space in the towers; one of these artists was killed.

Endowment funds will support recovery activities such as equipment purchases, office repair, disaster cleaning services--and programs that “use the arts as a source of healing and hope.”

QUICK TAKES

Linda Lavin and Samantha Mathis will star in a KCET-TV version of Donald Margulies’ off-Broadway hit, “Collected Stories,” due to air on PBS in the winter of 2002. Gil Cates, producing director of the Geffen Playhouse where he directed the production last year, will helm the TV adaptation.... On Monday night, Whoopi Goldberg became the first woman to be awarded the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The ceremony, with testimonials from personalities ranging from Harry Belafonte to Robin Williams (wearing a gas mask), is scheduled to air Nov. 21 on PBS....The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences officially signed a deal to hold the 2002 Oscar ceremony, honoring this year’s films, at the new Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland complex. The academy will also honor composer Elmer Bernstein’s 50 years of film composition (“Trading Places,” “Gangs of New York”) on Nov. 8 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater....