A day after the announcement that he would replace Michael Jordan as the headliner at what has been Jordan’s restaurant, Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa has landed a stint as an endorser for Montgomery Ward & Co.
A five-year deal calls for Sosa to appear in print and broadcast ads, public appearances and autograph sessions for Wards, which just emerged from bankruptcy protection last month. Terms were not disclosed. But, appearing at a news conference with Wards chairman Roger Goddu, Sosa was characteristically enthusiastic. “I hope to be with Wards for the rest of my life,” he said.
CLINTON ADOPTS ILLINOIS AS FOSTER-CARE MODEL
President Clinton honored the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services today for leading the nation in the number of foster children placed in permanent homes during the last two years. The President lauded the agency during celebration of a national increase in placements over the last two fiscal years. The increase in Illinois was 112 percent.
THEY COULD CALL IT WORLDSPRMCINTCOMCORPINC.
MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. are the latest two phone companies to talk merger. The Wall Street Journal reports that the No. 2 and 3 long-distance carriers have begun discussions, although it cited those familiar with the talks as saying no deal was imminent. Officials of both companies declined comment.
FLEECED BY FLOYD: ALLSTATE STOCK FALLS ON LOSS FORECAST
Northbrook-based Allstate Corp. stock fell more than 16 percent in early trading today on the company’s news that it expected third-quarter profits well short of expectations because of losses attributed to Hurricane Floyd. The company also blamed pricing pressure for the anticipated shortfall.
CLOUT-HEAVY ‘CHARITY’ FIRM NOT GIVING MUCH TO CHARITY
A well-connected firm with a name suggesting a do-good mission apparently is instead primarily using most of its cash to pay for professional service fees, officers’ salaries and consultants — including Mayor Richard Daley’s controversial, mob-connected acquaintance James Duff. The firm Festivals for Charity, which has no income other than its no-bid city contracts, has sold $3.6 million worth of beer, pop and water at five major downtown festivals since 1994, but — in violation of general guidelines that charitable organizations should devote more than half their budgets to charity — has spent four times as much on consultants, fees and salaries as on charitable donations.
POLICE CHARGE FENGER SHOOTING SUSPECT
A former Fenger High School student was due in court this afternoon, charged by police with the shooting that injured two students Tuesday as they walked home from the school. Antonio Baylock, 17 — a student previously expelled from Fenger — was charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, according to Calumet Area Sgt. Dennis Walsh. Police also arrested a 15-year-old boy as a juvenile, charging him with simple battery for punching one of the students at the beginning of the altercation, Walsh said.
TESTS TO HELP DECIDE PULLMAN ARSONIST’S FATE
Found not guilty by reason of insanity in the arson that destroyed Chicago’s historic Pullman factory the night of Dec. 1, 44-year-old Anthony Buzinskas now faces psychiatric evaluation by the Illinois Department of Mental Health.
Although Cook County Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Toomin ruled “there can be no doubt that the defendant, by means of fire, damaged the building,” he ruled that Buzinskas, who is homeless, lacked the understanding of the criminality of his conduct. The state evaluation, due in court Oct. 29, will help establish whether he can be treated with medication or institutionalized.
COUNCIL ATTEMPTS TO HEEL PRIVATE BOOTERS
The Chicago City Council License Committee is recommending the full council ban the use of the Denver boot by private companies. On grounds that booting companies, unlike towing companies, are not licensed and that their work invites parking-lot violence, the plan would impose fines of up to $500 for private firms that place locking devices on cars.
TO BEGIN, DON’T LET IN THE HAMBURGLAR
Beginning today, Oak Brook-based McDonald’s Corp. restaurants are giving away a new guide to home safety. The “Parent’s Guide to Playing It Safe at Home,” to be distributed with every Happy Meal, includes tips for health protection and injury prevention. It also promotes a new federal safety hotline number at which live operators will answer questions about home and fire safety, referring callers to experts for answers: 1-888-252-7752.
CHICAGO MAY YET SEE COLORS TO FALL FOR
Despite widespread predictions that a dry summer would mean a lackluster crop of autumn colors, the latest word is that the forecast for much of the Midwest and the rest of the nation is good. Wisconsin and Michigan arborists are predicting outstanding colors in those states.
The Chicago area’s still on the fence. Experts at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle say a colorful visual harvest requires the right conditions over the next few days: Adequate moisture, warm and sunny days, and cool but not freezing nights.
AND MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS TO VISIT SAMMY SOSA’S AFTERWARDS
A thousand tickets to each Chicago Bulls home game for the 1999-2000 season go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday from Ticketmaster outlets and the United Center box office.
The Cubs were hosting Pittsburgh again this afternoon, 2:20 p.m. The Sox move to Minnesota, 7:05 p.m. The Blackhawks play an exhibition game against Boston, 6 p.m. … The Wolves host Manitoba. Full schedule in Sports.
Thursday night, the Cubs beat Pittsburgh 8-5. Sammy Sosa came up homerless again, stalled at 61. Gary Gaetti was presented with the game’s third base, in honor of his becoming the 40th major-league player to appear in 2,500 games. The White Sox lost to the Yankees, 5-2.
COMING UP TODAY …
Still lacking the obvious casting choice of Tonya Harding, “Grease on Ice” glides into Allstate Arena, starring Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan; through Sunday, then moving to the United Center Oct. 1. … Koko Taylor and her Blues Machine headline Oak Park’s eighth annual Oktoberfest; through Sunday. … Schubas welcomes East Coast folkie Catie Curtis, 7:30 p.m. … The Star Plaza Theatre presents The Whispers, The Dells and The Manhattans, 8 p.m. … Comedian Paula Poundstone plays the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. (Sold out) … House of Blues presents singer/songwriter Willy Porter, 9 p.m. … Buddy Guy’s Legends presents Eddie “The Chief” Clearwater, with Nina Storey opening; 9:30 p.m. … FitzGerald’s presents electric and acoustic slide guitarist Dave Hole, 10 p.m. … Metro hosts the buzzing, whirring punk rock of Superchunk, 10 p.m. … Immaculate Conception Church presents Oktoberfest ’99; through Saturday. … The Pilsen East neighborhood serves up an Artists’ Open House; through Sunday. … The Mexican Fine Arts Museum opens a Day of the Dead group show; through Dec. 5. … Governors State University mounts “Hello, Dolly!”, 8 p.m. … Evanston’s Piven Theatre presents “Never in My Lifetime,” a drama about the struggle between love and country in the relationship between an English Soldier and a Belfast woman; through Oct. 31.
… SATURDAY
… Festivals? You want festivals? Didier Farms in Prairie View harvests a Pumpkin Festival, through Oct. 31, naturally; Palos Heights a Dutch Festival; Naperville’s Naper Settlement an MS Festival of the Arts, through Sunday; Thatcher Woods in River Forest a Native American PowWow, through Sunday; Northbrook, the North Shore Arts League National Art Festival, through Sunday. … The Chicago Children’s Museum rings up a World Circus; through Jan. 16. … The Chicago Historical Society opens “America’s Reconstruction: People and Politics After the Civil War”; through Jan. 2. … Lyric Opera opens “Falstaff”; through Oct. 29. … Park West presents Richard Thompson, 7:30 p.m. (Sold out) … The Vic hosts comedian Margaret Cho, 8 p.m. … Hideout presents the chamber pop of Archer Prewitt, 10 p.m. … Organizers of next month’s Chicago International Film Festival host a gala at McCormick Place South.
… AND SUNDAY
Time for the 57th Street Children’s Book Fair in Hyde Park. … AIDS Walk Chicago steps off at Arvey Field, 9 a.m. … The West Cook Bike-A-Thon wheels away in Western Springs’ Bemis Woods, 9 a.m. … The Black Ensemble Theater celebrates Black Arts Week; through Oct. 4. … … The Newberry Consort plays Northwestern University, 3 p.m. … Schubas presents the roadhouse rock of Kevin Gordon, 9 p.m.
ON THIS DATE IN 1969 …
The trial of the Chicago Eight (later the Chicago Seven) defendants began.
Hippie leaders Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin; Black Panther Party leader Bobby Seale (separated for a later trial never convened); activist ideologues Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis; and old-time liberal David Dellinger went before Federal District Judge Julius J. Hoffman on charges of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Ultimately, all of Judge Hoffman’s contempt sentences and the government’s riot charges were dismissed by higher courts or dropped by prosecutors.
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