Tattle: Michael Jackson: Savior of Gary, Ind.?

THE PEOPLE OF Gary, Ind., wanna be startin' somethin' and they may finally get their wish.

If all goes well - admittedly, a long shot - work could begin in 2011 on a museum and arts center dedicated to hometown hero Michael Jackson, papa Joe Jackson and Gary officials announced yesterday.

The cost: $300 million.

"This is a happy day for me because this is something that my family and Michael have always wanted," Joe said. "We're bringing something back."

(It's always nice to bring something when someone else is paying for it.)

Gary Mayor Rudy Clay said that the project would create thousands of jobs and is expected to lure at least 750,000 visitors a year to the city. He estimated that it would generate $100 million to $150 million in income for the community each year.

Could anything be less accurate than the economic projections of a politician?

The money to build the Jackson Family Museum and Hotel, and the Michael Jackson Performing Arts and Cultural Center and Theaters, will come from investors and donations, Clay said.

After years of promises about the project but no action, residents were cautiously optimistic.

Police Chief Gary O. Carter was impressed by Joe's presence.

"Why would he come all the way here if it wasn't" going to happen, Carter said.

TV cameras?

Porn actor wanted

Los Angeles police were searching yesterday for porn actor Steven Hill, who is suspected of killing one colleague and injuring two others with a sword-like movie prop after he was evicted from a production studio where he had been living.

Hill attacked his colleagues late Tuesday at Ultima DVD's distribution and production center in Van Nuys, L.A. police Detective Joel Price said.

Hill had been told earlier to leave the studio.

"He just snapped and went off and stabbed people that probably had absolutely nothing to do with him being let go," Price said.

Hill fled with his weapon in an SUV, police said.

The victims' names were not released. But, unless you watch way, way too much porn, you've probably never heard of them.

Hill had lived for several months in a section of the production facility that appeared to double as an adult-movie set.

Ick.

"He seemed like an OK guy who was trying very hard to get recognized and get his name out there," Adult Industry News editor-in-chief Steve Nelson said of Hill. "He carried around pictures of himself in hard-core action, and he would always want to show them to me."

Ick.

Ultima specializes in niche films that include fetishes and scenes of women sexually abusing men.

Tattbits

* U.S. Park Police have identified a woman arrested for tying herself to a White House fence as actress Q'orianka Kilcher (Pocahontas in "The New World").

Authorities say Q'orianka tied herself up Tuesday, and her mother, Saskia, poured a black substance over her.

They were not, however, protesting the BP oil spill but a visit by the president of Peru. Q'orianka's dad is a Peruvian Indian.

* Val Kilmer is set to appear before a board of county commissioners in New Mexico June 23 to explain derogatory comments he's been quoted as making about the state.

A 2003 Rolling Stone article quoted Val as saying that he lives in the "homicide capital of the Southwest" and that 80 percent "of the people in my county are drunk."

He's denied the statements, especially now that he wants the county to approve a permit allowing him to rent out three guest houses on his ranch, and the county commission wants him to explain his earlier remarks.

Speak slowly, Val. We hear that 80 percent of them are drunk.

* Yesterday in New Mexico, Kilmer and Jack Nicholson were among celebs who mixed with dozens of Dennis Hopper's relatives, friends and Taos locals to remember the two-time Oscar nominee at a memorial Mass.

Hopper's simple wooden coffin was ushered into the adobe chapel at historic San Francisco de Asis church in Ranchos de Taos.

A private burial was to follow the service.

Hopper first came to New Mexico in 1969 to scout locations for "Easy Rider." He lived in Taos for 12 years through the early 1980s.

* "Celebrity Rehab" won't give up.

TMZ.com reports that "Rehab" has offered Liza Minelli $500,000 to topline this year's show.

There is something incredibly perverse about offering to pay someone with a long history of abuse problems to agree to be treated for her addictions on TV while living in a house full of addicts.

Crazy.

Liza, to her credit, so far has said she has no interest.

* There must be no film stars left to honor.

Zac Efron will be feted by the Maui Film Festival this month.

The star of "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" and "17 Again" will accept the award June 16, opening night.

Festival director Barry Rivers says that this year's mantra is "Trust the Future," and Efron is an actor with an extraordinary career behind him and an even more brilliant one ahead of him.

* As BP oil continues to pour into the Gulf of Mexico, Victoria Principal ("Dallas") has stepped up with a $200,000 donation to help clean things up.

That leaves the cleanup effort a few billion short, but it's a nice gesture.

Oceana and the Natural Resources Defense Council say that Victoria made the donation to encourage the two nonprofits to work together to address the damage along the coast and support a shift toward renewable energy.

How about renewable fish?

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

E-mail gensleh@phillynews.com.