City of Angles

“Family Ties” star-turned-rock singer Tina Yothers is on the lam, according to a Beverly Hills judge. Municipal Court Judge Richard A. Stone on Wednesday issued a $20,000 warrant for Yothers’ arrest when she failed to appear in small claims court for a hearing about the debts she allegedly owes her public relations company.

Luck Media & Marketing president Steve Levesque claims Yothers owes his company more than $7,000 for two months of publicity for Yothers’ rock band. “‘We kind of presented her as the child actor who didn’t get in trouble,” Levesque told us.

“It as shocking and surprising that she would act this way.”

Yothers, who last summer dismissed Levesque’s claims as “completely bogus,” could not be reached for comment.

Yothers, who is either 33 (according to a court document) or 28 (according to other reports); earned fame in the 1980s for her role as Jennifer Keaton in the hit sitcom “Family Ties” and has recently pursued a career in music as a singer with a band called Jaded.

According to Levesque, Yothers and her manager, Bob Jones, hired his company last fall to help publicize the band’s album, “Confessions.” Levesque said he was paid for one month’s work and then he wasn’t paid again.

In May, Levesque took Yothers and Jones to small claims court and won. Yothers and Jones were ordered to pay Levesque $5,050. No payment materialized, so Levesque brought the case back to court this month.

Going Guru

Erin Brockovich is reinventing herself as a self-help guru. The environmentalist, played by Julia Roberts on screen, is currently promoting a new book, “Take It From Me--Life’s a Struggle But You Can Win.”

She called Thursday en route to a signing in Washington, D.C., to talk about her book, and the life lessons she imparts, such as “Listen to your inner gut.” (She’ll be at the Beverly Hills Library at 7 p.m. on Dec. 18.)

The book arose from her stint on the lecture circuit after the movie’s release. “Everything I do starts as a fluke,” she said.

Brockovich, who is dyslexic, said she was inspired by the many sayings her parents uttered when she was growing up--”When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” ’Pick yourself up by the boot straps,” and “Press on.” ’They may be cliches,” said Brockovich, “but they really work.”

Roberts and fire-walking guru Tony Robbins wrote blurbs for the book. “It is as challenging a task to comment on Erin Brockovich as it was to portray her,” writes Roberts. “She seems to defy description. I shall put it simply, because Erin is someone who appreciates a clear point. She is kind, and she is tireless. Erin is inspiring, and I know the world to be a better place because she is in it.”

The book is “easy reading. It doesn’t go on too. long,” said Brockovich. “I wrote it not to lecture, not to preach, just to share.”

Thanks.

Fiery Beginnings

Turns out even super villain Lex Luthor has been inspired by Sumner Redstone, the Viacom chairman. On an episode of the WBs “Smallville” last week, Luthor told Clark Kent, “I once read about a rich man who survived a hotel fire. He hung onto the ledge for an hour before the fire department rescued him. Afterward, he bought the hotel, always stayed in that room. When they asked him why, he said he figured fate couldn’t find him twice.” The reference was to Redstones brush with death in 1979 when he escaped a fire in Boston’s Copley Plaza Hotel by climbing out onto a ledge, hanging on to it with one hand while fire raged around him.

Redstone, whose right hand is still scarred from the fire, did not buy the hotel, but the show’s writers thought the plot addition would make the story even more compelling, said Al Gough, an executive producer.

“It’s a fascinating story,” said Gough. “I figured it was something Lex would remember.”

Although Redstone, represents the competition--the WB is part of AOL Time Warner; Redstone heads Viacom, which owns CBS and the WBs chief rival, UPN--he is still an obvious role model for Luthor, said Gough.

“Lex is always interested in very successful people--men who made their own destinies.”

Kids’ Club

The underage celebrity set now has an upscale Hollywood club to call its own. Tonight, Seventeen magazine opens its multimillion-dollar nightclub One Seven with performances by Jewel, singer Michelle Branch and ‘Once and Again” star Shane West’s band Average Joe and a guest list of famous youngsters. The absence of alcohol and overage visitors is the only thing that distinguishes this place from a regular nightclub. But ravers beware! Rules ban glow tubes and, yes, pacifiers.