Radio static

Business radio station WBIX 1060-AM, which last year made news after its owner, Bradford C. Bleidt, allegedly embezzled funds from financial clients, has settled into a new home. Its studio is now in the Union Wharf offices of George Regan's PR fim -- which represented the station and, at one point, Bleidt. Yesterday, former GE honcho Jack Welch was a guest of morning show host Stu Taylor, and discussed his book, ''Winning." (Last night, Welch attended a fund-raiser for ReadBoston at Morton's, The Steakhouse, hosted by Mayor Tom Menino.) . . . Over at FM classic rock station WZLX, comic Steve Sweeney will no longer be holding court on the morning shift. Sweeney, who recently returned from a vacation, met with station officials and learned that his contract would not be renewed. ''That doesn't mean he won't be working, in some capacity, with the station. We at the station love Steve and love his work," said station spokesman ChaChi LoPrete.

Seeing stars
Matt Damon, in town to shoot Martin Scorsese's ''The Departed," stopped by Restaurant L at Louis Boston in the Back Bay with his dad, Kent, the other night. Damon chatted up Louis's veep Maria Fei and L's chef Pino Maffeo for a while, complimenting them on the food and the decor. . . . Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, were spotted Thursday night at 10 Prime Steak and Sushi in Providence, enjoying a surf-and-turf extravaganza. Pinkett Smith's band, Wicked Wisdom, was part of yesterday's Ozzfest at the Tweeter Center. The couple sat in the restaurant's appropriately named Diva Room while dining on rib-eye steaks and sushi.

Eye-catching art
Yes, that's a whale on display in front of Ciao Bella on Newbury Street. The 5-foot depiction of a Beluga whale called ''A Whale of a Town" was decorated by artist and TV veteran Dixie Whatley.

Earlier this week, a slew of tennis greats including Stefan Edberg, Martina Hingis, and Ivan Lendl turned out to support tennis brothers Tim and Tom Gullikson's foundation that assists those with brain tumors and their families. The two-day event, sponsored by adidas, was held at the Ocean Edge Resort & Club in Brewster.

Blast from the past
Just what we needed: A new Ric Ocasek album. Billboard reports that the former Cars singer is releasing his first solo CD since 1997's ''Troublizing." This one, called ''Nexterday," was self-produced and recorded in Mr. Paulina Porizkova's Big Apple basement studio. The disc, featuring former Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes, will be released Sept. 27. While we're playing ''Where Are They Now?" former Cars drummer David Robinson is the new owner of Hula Moon in Rockport.

Stars help out
Tony Shalhoub and Jason Bateman are the latest actors to throw their support behind former ''Cheers" star John Ratzenberger's ''CVS Newport Under the Stars," a benefit for Boston's Joslin Diabetes Center planned for September in Newport, R.I. The two actors share Emmy nominations in the category of best lead actor in a comedy, with Shalhoub already owning an Emmy (and a Golden Globe) for his series ''Monk," and Bateman's show ''Arrested Development" scoring a best comedy series Emmy last year. (The Emmys will be doled out a week before the Newport event on Sept. 25 and 26.) Others who've committed to the event include: Angela Bassett, Matt Damon, Michael Chiklis, James Woods, Cheech Marin, Ron Perlman, Anne Heche, and cast members from ''That '70s Show," ''Malcolm in the Middle," ''Queer Eye," and ''7th Heaven."

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