A felony charge has been added to the misdemeanor charge against a man who allegedly pushed a 69-year-old census worker down the stairs of an apartment building after being angered by follow-up visits, FBI officials said.
Robert Walls, 51, of 937 E. 80th St., was charged late Thursday with assaulting or impeding a federal employee, FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said today. He said Walls was released after posting bond.
* Latest news update
Clinton joins outcry over Chicago gas prices
President Clinton says he finds “very frustrating” the fact that drivers in Chicago and Milwaukee are paying almost 40 cents more per gallon than the rest of the country. He told NBC today that he doesn’t have evidence of price gouging, but, he said, “I’m quite concerned about it.”
* Latest news update
* Audio: Clinton on gas prices
South Side hostage situation ends
Chicago police said today that they had a suspect after a five-hour hostage situation that began late Thursday night, when an unidentified man held several patrons against their will at a South Side tavern.
But Sgt. Cynthia Lance said charges had yet to be filed in connection with the standoff, which ended at 4:35 a.m.
She said the man was inside Bernice’s Twilight Zone, in the 2900 block of East 79th Street, when he allegedly pulled out a gun and fired it. Some of the 13 patrons fled the tavern while others remained inside, Lance said. Police said nobody was injured.
Uniformed police initially responded to the call about 11:20 p.m., followed by the hostage, barricade and terrorist unit, Lance said.
Urlacher signs with Bears, helps promote Ping-Pong festival
Bears top draft pick Brian Urlacher agreed to a five-year contract today and plans to celebrate by indulging in one of his passions: Ping-Pong.
Urlacher will join Mayor Richard Daley on Saturday at Navy Pier as the Chicago Ping-Pong Festival 2000 begins to prepare for its August opening. The Festival will run from Aug. 3 to Sept. 24 as hundreds of Ping-Pong tables will be placed in public and private locations around the city.
* Latest sports update
Motorola, partners aim to shift e-commerce from PCs to phones
Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc. is leading a new effort to move electronic commerce from the domain of the personal computer to the realm of wireless phones. It’s teaming up with an affiliate of the Swedish Ericsson cell phone company and two smaller firms in a still-unnamed alliance to move more business to cell phones and other simple gadgets. The group has pledged up to $500 million to create a system that would rely on the Internet and the wireless network behind the scenes but that would be transparent to the user.
A Motorola executive says the results could include products like cell phones with embedded scanners, so a user could buy a product just by scanning a bar code in a newspaper ad — without taking another step.
* From this morning’s paper
A well-red weekend
The Chicago Department of Transportation has flagged this weekend as the first of the year 2000 worthy of its “red alert” designation. Noting a round of cultural events with the potential to draw huge numbers of people to the central city (see “Coming up,” below), the department is urging downtown visitors to use public transportation. It’s advising those who must drive into the city to stick to peripheral routes, like Franklin or Clark Streets.
Don’t change those Sox
Hot off a 12-3 victory over baseball’s defending world champions Thursday — their 11th win in 12 games — the Sox play the Yankees again at New York, 6:05 p.m. After a day off, the Cubs return to action hosting Montreal this afternoon.
Full schedule in ChicagoSports.com.
Coming up today …
Moviegoers have a couple of critically acclaimed new releases to consider: Shaft and Titan A.E. … Taste of the Heart of Italy gets under way on the Southwest Side; through Sunday. … The Goodman Theatre opens “Zoot Suit,” based on the 1943 trial of gang members arrested for a suspected murder; through July 30. … Downtown Aurora celebrates “Blues on the Fox 2000,” also through Sunday. … The Cliff Dwellers hosts Bloomsday, a celebration of James Joyce’s “Ulysses”; 5:30 p.m. … The DePaul University Concert Hall welcomes Ariel Ensemble, 8 p.m.. … Storefront Theater stages “Balanced on the Ledge” through Saturday. … Foreigner plays Star Plaza Theatre, 8 p.m. … Ravinia Festival presents the Marcus Roberts Trio with Nicholas Payton, 8 p.m. … Donny’s Skybox Studio Theatre stages “Wilbus Amadeus Croakley,” a comedy about an African-American man alienated by racism; through July 21.
… Saturday
The 13th annual Celebrate on State fest runs through Sunday. … The Puerto Rican Day Parade steps off at noon. … The Art Institute explores “Optical Delusions,” through Oct. 15. … Metro presents Yo La Tengo, 7 p.m.
… and Sunday
The Old Town School of Folk Music celebrates Juneteenth, 1-8 p.m. … The Chicago Cultural Center presents an all-Chinese music concert, 2 p.m. … The South Shore Cultural Center demonstrates that “Real Men Cook,” including father/daughter jazz from Oscar Brown Jr. and Maggie Brown; 3 p.m. … American Girl Place invites girls to “A Date with Dad,” 4-6:30 p.m. … The Oriental Theatre presents Nina Simone, 7:30 p.m.
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