CHANNELING FUNDS: NBC 4 refused to pay...

CHANNELING FUNDS: NBC 4 refused to pay Burbank’s $26,730 bill for police work surrounding last month’s aborted O.J. Simpson interview but did the next best thing: It donated an equal sum to the city’s DARE program. . . . The city had added extra officers outside the studio Oct. 11, because 500 demonstrators showed up to protest the O.J. interview that wasn’t. By compromising, the station avoided paying for police protection for a news story.

NO CAN DO: Santa Clarita’s leaders were snubbed by the head of the landfill company that’s buying the proposed Elsmere Canyon dump site. The rejection came from former Deputy Atty. Gen. William D. Ruckelshaus . . . best known for quitting rather than helping former President Richard M. Nixon suppress the Watergate tapes. Now head of Browning-Ferris Industries, Ruckelshaus said “thanks, but no thanks” to a meeting.

PEER PLEASURE: A Valley production of “Counsellor-at-Law” won four awards, including best play in smaller theaters, in a regionwide drama contest. The awards, called Ovations, are the area’s primary peer-judged theater honors. Joe Garcia, above, of Actors Alley won best actor honors for “The Puppetmaster of Lodz.” More in Calendar (F1).

ZINGER: Attorney Leslie Abramson took a swipe at D.A. Gil Garcetti during the Menendez trial Tuesday. During questioning of expert Roger McCarthy, Abramson asked why he was helping the prosecution for free. She asked him if Garcetti had implored him to “come down and help poor old Gil Garcetti, who’s having a losing streak?” The comment was stricken, but Leslie, as always, got in her licks.

JAWS OF STEEL: We don’t know about his left hook. But if Robert Galstyan gets his molars on the opponent in his boxing debut tonight: OUCH! That’s because Galstyan is in The Guinness Book of Records for towing two railroad cars, weighing 483,197 pounds, for 23 feet . . . with his teeth. Galstyan is on the card at the Warner Center Marriott boxing program tonight. First bell: 7:30 p.m. (C6). Tickets: $25-$100. Info: (800) 228-1918.