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.