NAIL BITER: Many Muscovites calmly did everyday...

NAIL BITER: Many Muscovites calmly did everyday tasks as bloody revolt threatened Russia . . . not so their emigre cousins. Business plummeted at Moscow Nights, a Studio City hangout for the Valley’s sizable Russian community (above). “The chaos has really worried people, so a lot of them are staying home, watching the television news,” said owner Arkady Rivkin.

CHANNEL CHICKEN: If you get Century Cable, check to see if you still see KNBC-TV on Channel 4. That may be a clue to how negotiations ended by last night’s midnight deadline over whether the West Valley cable service would go on carrying it (D1). . . . Cause: the new law allowing stations to charge cable companies to carry their signals.

MORE COPS: Valley Councilman Hal Bernson complains L.A. Mayor Riordan left him unsupported in Bernson’s failed effort to get City Council backing for a ballot measure to pump up the LAPD’s strength by a third (B1). Riordan, whose main campaign promise set the same expansion goal, withheld comment on Bernson’s plan . . . and Bernson’s statement that Riordan reneged on a private pledge of support.

PLAY OR GO: Cal State Northridge football players, unhappy over the program’s finances, boycotted practice for a day (C8). . . . It got them nothing but an ultimatum. Athletic Director Bob Hiegert warned that players who continue boycotting will be kicked off the team and stripped of scholarships.

SUSPECT NAMED: Police say they’ve identified the rapist who has fearful Pacoima parents walking children to and from school after attacks on three students. Officers are looking for Robert Lee Donaldson, who lived in the area and was paroled in February from prison, where he was serving 16 years for a sexual assault on a young boy, authorities said (B4). . . . Donaldson has a partially shaved head and a tattoo of a snake with the words “Mr. Donaldson” on his left arm.

Valley Russians

The top five San Fernando Valley communities with the largest Russian populations: Encino-Tarzana: 5,895 Canoga Park: 5,616 Studio City-Sherman Oaks-Toluca Lake: 4,518 North Hollywood: 2,395 Total in San Fernando Valley: 32,994 Source: 1990 U.S. Census