Racing queen

Indianapolis — Former “Today” show co-host Jane Pauley will return to her hometown this spring to be grand marshal of the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade.

The May 29 parade through the city’s downtown take place the day before the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It will be shown on ESPN2.

Pauley, 53, grew up in Indianapolis and graduated from Indiana University. A former host of “Dateline NBC,” she is developing a daytime talk show for NBC Enterprises.

Next season’s a sure thing

New York — Jill Hennessy doesn’t have to worry about finding work for at least another year.

The star of “Crossing Jordan” received notice Monday that NBC was picking up the show about her character, a medical examiner, for a fourth season.

The return of “Crossing Jordan” this season was delayed until late winter because of Hennessy’s pregnancy. But the series has proven to be a particularly strong ratings performer in its first four weeks back.

Wedding bells awaiting

Washington — Popping the question was easy. Setting a date for the wedding — that’s another story.

Chris Klein, who starred in “American Pie” and “American Pie 2,” said it was only natural for him to propose to Katie Holmes (“Dawson’s Creek”) after dating five years.

“I really believe it’s the natural evolution of a relationship,” Klein told AP Radio in an interview.

Klein proposed in December. The 25-year-old actor said he and Holmes, also 25, haven’t yet been able to fit a wedding into their busy schedules.

“We don’t have a date set yet,” he said. “What we do is very different from the normal ‘nine to five where you go home’ type of situation. We’re actually apart for long stretches of time.”

Klein has been promoting his new movie, “The United States of Leland,” and Holmes has been filming the new “Batman” movie.

Don’t mess with Texas

Actor Jason Patric was arrested in the Lone Star State over the weekend after he attended the San Antonio premiere of his latest film, “The Alamo,” E!Online reports.

After Saturday’s red carpet festivities, Patric headed to Austin, where he ran into trouble with the local police late Sunday night. According to police, Patric was standing on a downtown street with a group of people at around 3 a.m. when police told them to move.

Patric started to move toward the sidewalk, but then positioned himself in an aggressive stance, police said. When they tried to arrest him, Patric resisted and allegedly shoved an officer. He claimed he wasn’t drunk and told the officers to test him. Instead, they slapped cuffs on him and took him to jail.

The “Lost Boys” star cooled his heels in the Travis County jail for the next five hours before posting his $1,000 bond at about 8:30 Monday morning.