Around the Arts

Middle Hanson brother becomes father at 19\nTULSA, Okla. — The middle brother of the pop singing trio Hanson has become a father. \nTaylor Hanson, 19, and his wife Natalie Anne Bryant, 18, became parents Oct. 31. \nBryant gave birth to Jordan Ezra on Halloween morning. \n"We're so excited to start a family," Hanson said in a statement. "Having Ezra is the best thing we've ever done. Life and art are all about these moments." \nHanson married Bryant, his girlfriend of two years, in June at a private ceremony in Pine Mountain, Ga. \nThe group Hanson sparked the teen pop craze of recent years when they debued in 1997. \nThe brothers were just 16, 14 and 11 years old when their first hit, "MMMBop," went to No. 1 in 27 countries. \nTaylor and brothers Isaac and Zac are finishing work on their next CD, due early next year.\nThree sue cops over Sydney arrest \nSYDNEY, Australia — Three men accused of blackmailing Russell Crowe over his role in a brawl said Monday they're suing police and prosecutors for malicious prosecution and wrongful arrest. \nPolice accused Philip Cropper and Malcolm Mercer, both 38, and Mark Potts, 45, of trying to extort money from the actor after he was allegedly captured on a videotape in a brawl outside a nightclub in Coffs Harbor on Nov. 18, 1999. \nCrowe, the Oscar-winning "Gladiator" star, has a ranch in the hills behind Coffs Harbor, a seaside town halfway between Sydney and Brisbane. \nCharges against Potts were withdrawn shortly before he was to go to trial earlier this year. A jury cleared Cropper and Mercer in June of demanding money from Crowe in return for not publicizing the video. \nOn Monday, the three filed statements of claim in the New South Wales Supreme Court against the state of New South Wales and police officers, alleging malicious prosecution and wrongful arrest. \nMercer and Cropper also are suing for false imprisonment after being held for more than a week before they could post bail. \nEach seeks unspecified damages, claiming "their lives have been ruined" and that they suffered enormous financial loss, said their lawyer, Greg Walsh. \n"As a result of these charges and having the charges over their heads for so long and the proceedings themselves ... in effect their businesses were ruined," he said. \nWalsh said Crowe likely would be called as a witness. A hearing is expected next year.\nGardener says TLC member owes cash\nMOORPARK, Calif. — A gardener is suing Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins of the R&B group TLC for allegedly stiffing him on a bill for snapdragons. \nThe lawsuit contends that the singer and her husband, Detrick Rolison, ordered landscaping last year for their gated Moorpark home but never paid their gardening firm, Kevin Persons Inc. \nPersons alleges the couple owes him nearly $15,000 for providing 50 flats of mixed snapdragons, four 15-gallon plants, sod, sprinklers, tree lighting and 10 square yards of walk-on bark. The Thousand Oaks gardener claims he had an oral agreement with Mack 10. \nThe couple did not have an immediate comment Monday.