QUAKE LOANS: A $30-million federal program aimed...

QUAKE LOANS: A $30-million federal program aimed at combatting the urban blight caused by apartment owners abandoning their earthquake-damaged buildings will be announced today. (B4) . . . The program will provide the landlords who can’t otherwise qualify for funding with low-interest loans for rebuilding. The first allocations will go to neighborhoods in Granada Hills, Northridge, Van Nuys and Hollywood.

WAR OF THE WORDS: The makers of Scrabble got heat from national civil rights groups for words in their official dictionary deemed offensive. “They perpetuated negative stereotypes,” said Mary Krasn, director of the Valley’s Anti-Defamation League chapter. . . . Well, the words are coming out, and now some players object. “We’re only playing letter combinations,” said Deborah Sapot, a member of a Granada Hills Scrabble club.

HOLDING SERVE: Pierce College changed tennis coaches this year, but it hasn’t changed traditions. Winning is still what it serves best. Pierce (21-1), ranked second in the state, will face Los Altos Foothill today for the state championship. . . . New coach Aris Hovsepian, above, has replaced the legendary Paul Xanthos (C10).

NEAR DISASTER: Jason Gore almost needed CPR right there on the golf course. No, this was not a sudden stroke--it was more like a sudden choke. He was slowly throwing away a safe three-shot lead on the final hole of a big college golf tournament last week. . . . But Gore, an Arizona sophomore who went to Hart High in Newhall, somehow saved himself and won a playoff (C12).

SECURITY: General Motors will put $10 billion in cash and stock into its pension fund, which certainly pleases the White House (A1). . . . The announcement also makes GM retirees a little more secure, including some who worked at the former Van Nuys plant. “I know they have the money to keep paying me,” said Ray Knudson, trustee of United Auto Workers Local 645.