Extortion trial postponed

Sydney, Australia The trial of three men accused of trying to extort money from Russell Crowe was postponed Monday because of media coverage of the case.

Philip Antony Cropper, 36, and Malcolm Brian Mercer, 37, are accused of trying to blackmail the Oscar-winning “Gladiator” star. They also are charged, along with Mark James Potts, 42, with perverting the course of justice.

They face a maximum sentence of 14 years if convicted.

The trio is accused of trying to extort a large sum of money from Crowe in exchange for destroying a security video that allegedly shows him involved in a fight outside a night club in 1999 in Coffs Harbor, the east coast Australian town where the actor owns a ranch.

Zombie joins Ozzfest

New York Rob Zombie will replace Rage Against the Machine on the main stage of the Ozzfest summer tour.

Zombie fills the spot left open when Rage pulled out after lead singer Chris Cornell left the band, concert planners recently announced.

Ozzfest, one of the biggest tours of last year with more than $26 million in ticket sales, is scheduled to begin July 6 in Bristow, Va., and end Sept. 8 in Dallas. Besides Ozzy Osbourne, System of a Down, P.O.D. and Drowning Pool also are scheduled to perform on the main stage.

Where there’s smoke, no fire

Southington, Conn. Gov. John G. Rowland has found a way to silence the loudest critic of his new cigarette tax: He pays for her smokes.

The governor’s mother, Cerie Rowland, told The Associated Press last month she was mobilizing her bridge club to oppose the 61-cent increase her son had proposed to help close the state’s budget gap.

According to the Record-Journal of Meriden, Rowland good-humoredly told state agencies at a luncheon on Friday that the secret to keeping his 70-year-old mother quiet is as simple as paying her off with cigarettes.

“Believe me, it was worth buying her silence on this,” Rowland said.

Judge fights back from stroke

Reno, Nev. Boxing referee Mills Lane is surprising his doctor with his recovery from a stroke a week ago, his family says.

He still can’t talk, but he’s able to sip a little red wine, enjoy chocolate ice cream, laugh at “The Godfather” and wish his nurses would quit pestering him, son Terry Lane said.

The 64-year-old Lane collapsed at his home last weekend while his wife was out of town. Colleagues found him April 1.

The former judge and NCAA boxing champion gained national attention as referee of the 1997 fight in which Mike Tyson bit off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear.