FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, April 16, 2001

JACKO JAM: A special Michael Jackson tribute concert, featuring Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, 'N Sync, Marc Anthony and Shaggy, as well as a Jackson 5 reunion, has been slated for September 7 at Madison Square Garden. The show will celebrate Jackson's 30-year solo career.

WINGED: Emmy-winning West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin busted Sunday at a Southern California airport for possessing a bag of hallucinogenic mushrooms. He was released on $10,000 bail and is due in court April 30.

SEE YA: Former Eagle Scout Steven Spielberg announcing Monday that he is stepping down from the advisory board of the Boy Scouts of America apparently because of the organization's anti-gay policy. "The last few years in scouting have deeply saddened me to see the Boy Scouts of America actively and publicly participating in discrimination. It's a real shame," he says.

KIDS RULE: The Easter Bunny delivered a basket full of Easter joy to the Spy Kids as the pint-sized secret-agents flick towered over the box office for the third weekend in a row, racking up $12.5 million, according to final studio figures Monday. The film has earned almost $69 million so far.

CODA: Joey Ramone, frontman, cofounder and driving force behind America's premier punk band, the Ramones, died Sunday after a battle with lymphoma. He was 49.

P. DIDDY IN A PICKLE: Sean "Puffy" Combs was arrested Saturday in Miami Beach and charged with driving without a license after cops pulled him over for making an illegal lane change in his scooter. The arrest comes less than a week after Combs got out of a similar ticket in Florida. He faces a $500 fine.

ENGAGED? Actors Josh Brolin, 33, and Minnie Driver, 30, are engaged but no wedding date has been set, according to Driver's publicist. The couple denied similar reports two years ago.

NO SHOW: Rosie O'Donnell's hand is keeping her from hosting Nickelodeon's "Kids' Choice" awards this year. The network says, "Rosie is under doctor orders not to travel at this time, and her health is our first and foremost concern."

BREAKUP BLUES: CNN founder Ted Turner says he was suicidal after the breakup of his marriage to Jane Fonda and losing control of Turner Broadcasting in the reorganization of AOL Time Warner, according to the New Yorker. "I felt like Job," Turner said of his despondency last year.

BACK IN BLACK: Famke Janssen (X-Men) is in negotiations to star as the lead villainess in Columbia Pictures' Men in Black 2 for director Barry Sonnenfeld. MiB 2 will also bring back stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

THE PLAY'S THE THING: The Outer Critics Circle, the organization of writers who cover New York theater for out-of-town media, has announced nominees for its 2000-01 season awards. The new Broadway production of 42nd Street leads the field with 11 nods. Winners will be announced on April 30.

HE CAN SEE THE LIGHT: Marion "Suge" Knight, the multimillionaire rap mogul, says his first stop after serving a five-year prison stint will be a hot tub. "I'm sick of showers," says Knight, cofounder of the rap label Death Row Records. Newsweek reports that Knight will be released within the next few days from Mule Creek State Prison near Sacramento after serving five years of a nine-year sentence on assault-related charges.

PIZZA'S ON HIM: A 30-year-old graduate student from Santa Barbara became the eighth top prize winner Sunday on ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and the second in five days. Bernie Cullen won the $1 million prize by correctly identifying "N" as the letter that must appear at the beginning of the registration number for all non-military aircraft in the United States.

CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE: Thieves in suburban Philadelphia stole up to $100,000 worth of guitars, musical equipment, and other items from veteran rocker Frank Black, forcing his band to cancel its next two shows.