ENGAGED
Two Dawson's Creek cast members have decided to take the plunge. Series star James Van Der Beek, 24, will marry actor Heather McComb, 24, while Kerr Smith, 29, who plays the gay student Jack, will wed actor Ali Hillis, 27. Pop star Jessica Simpson, 21, will marry Nick Lachey, 28, of the boy band 98 Degrees. The couple got back together in September after breaking up last spring.

EXPECTING
R&B singer Brandy, 23, and music producer Robert Smith, 22, will have their first child in July. On January 30, the couple revealed that they were secretly married last summer.

IN COURT
On February 20, a Los Angeles jury concluded that musician James Brown, 68, did not sexually harass his former employee Lisa Agbalaya, 36. The jury awarded her $40,000 in damages, however, stating that she had been wrongly fired from her job.

BURGULARIZED
Thieves raided the London home of pop singer George Michael, 38, on February 17 and escaped with his Aston Martin sports car and $144,000 worth of paintings, clothing, jewelry and other possessions. Michael was in Los Angeles during the incident.

RECOVERING
On February 22, Roger Ebert, 59, had a tumor on his thyroid gland removed. "My prognosis is excellent for a quick and complete recovery," said the film critic.

DIED
Animator Chuck Jones, who gave life to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Wile E. Coyote and dozens of other cartoon characters, on February 22 of congestive heart failure at his home in Corona del Mar, California. He was 89. Jones was recognized as "the father of contemporary animation" by his peers. He directed more than 300 films and won three Oscars during his 70-year career.

TROUBLE FOR TOMMY
The parents of the 4-year-old boy who drowned in rocker Tommy Lee's swimming pool last June have sued the former Motley Crue drummer for wrongful death and negligence. Daniel Karven-Veres was attending a birthday party for Lee's son Brandon, 5, in Malibu, California, when he reportedly became trapped beneath an inflatable toy. "We just found [Daniel] in the pool," a shaken Lee told a 911 operator. Ursula Karven and James Veres, Daniel's parents, are seeking unspecified damages as well as attorney's fees. A spokesperson for Lee, 39, called the drowning a "tragic accident."

IAN Z. PERVIL
(Us Weekly 369 - March 11, 2002)