No Cash: Profits from “Stranger in Two...

No Cash: Profits from “Stranger in Two Worlds,” the autobiography of convicted killer Jean Harris, must be turned over to the New York State Crime Victims Board, an appeals court has ruled. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in Manhattan ruled Wednesday that Harris, who was convicted of killing Dr. Herman Tarnower, author of “The Scarsdale Diet,” may not assign $90,000 in profits to a charity benefiting children of inmates at the prison where she is serving a 15-year-to-life sentence.

Hot Spot: The Manhattan salon of hairdresser Kenneth, whose bouffant hairstyle swept the nation after it was worn by then-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, was destroyed Wednesday in a three-alarm fire. Twelve firefighters were injured in the blaze that swept the five-story townhouse on East 54th Street. Kenneth has been a favorite of many fashionable society women, including Nancy Kissinger and Pat Buckley and fashion editor Grace Mirabella. The 63-year-old style-setter watched helplessly as the blaze, of undetermined origin, destroyed his shop.

Exec Privilege: The wife of Missouri’s Republican Gov. John Ashcroft had the state library opened on Mother’s Day so her 12-year-old son could do research for a school report. Janet Ashcroft and seventh-grader Andy spent more than two hours in the library used primarily by executive and legislative branches of government. It is normally open Monday through Friday. State librarian Monteria Hightower said after she unlocked the library’s doors on her day off, Sunday, an unidentified library staffer remained in the building while the Ashcrofts were there from 5 p.m. to about 7:30 p.m. The employee will not be paid, Hightower said.

Return to Africa: A former Peace Corps volunteer will lead a 16-member expedition to Africa to retrace the 900-mile, 19th-Century journey by famous explorers Henry Morton Stanley and David Livingstone. Jim Owens, 42, of Charlotte, N.C. and his team are scheduled to leave the United States June 1 to re-create one of the world’s most famous explorations.