TAKING NO CHANCES: The “Jackson Family Honors�...

TAKING NO CHANCES: The “Jackson Family Honors� TV special, which aired in February, has had trouble from the start. The latest came this week with word that the crew may still be owed about $2 million. Well, there is some good news. The $25,000 allocated to Northridge Hospital Medical Center should arrive in April. . . . “I’m not stupid,� said a charity official. “The money has always been in the bank.�

SCRIBE SCRUBBED: She thought it was going to be a friendly game of Scrabble with Grandma’s friends. One problem: Grandma’s friends didn’t cooperate. They played serious Scrabble, giving writer Suzanne Schlosberg a quick lesson in humility. . . . The wordsmiths belong to the Dee Mandeson San Fernando Valley Scrabble Club, which meets weekly in Granada Hills (E1).

PUNISHMENT: His initials are B. K., and he’s a college coach who knows how to get angry. No, not Bobby Knight. Try Bill Kernen, CSUN’s baseball coach. Furious with his team’s mediocre play (17-16) this season, he barred players from the clubhouse and wouldn’t let them wear team jerseys in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Cal Lutheran (C8). Mike Vasey, above, sports the plain-wrap black shirt sported by CSUN players. . . . At least Kernen didn’t throw any chairs.

SELLING EDUCATION: Public TV is going retail, and why not? Pledge breaks don’t exactly break the bank. So KCET-TV, Channel 28, will open a Store of Knowledge at the Glendale Galleria, selling books, games and puzzles. . . . “It’s absolutely essential we develop new sources of revenue,� said William H. Kobin, KCET’s president (F1).

TALENTED TEEN: Kudos to Derek Kwan, 17, of Agoura Hills, who won the jazz instrumental category of the Music Center Spotlight Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion this week. . . . Derek, playing sax and flute, “blew everyone away,� according to one organizer. Along with the cheers came a $5,000 prize.