Newsmakers

Scrutinized Mayor Richard M. Daley has taken the plunge in trying to lure the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago. Now he has to explain to taxpayers in this cash-strapped city why they may be on the hook for millions of dollars if the event flops. Daley was nowhere near Chicago on Thursday. He was still overseas after telling the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland that he would sign a contract requiring the city to take full financial responsibility for the games, a move intended to erase any IOC doubts about the commitment of the U.S. bid city. The IOC will announce Oct. 2 whether the games will go to Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo or Rio de Janeiro. When Daley gets home, Chicago Alderman Joe Moore wants the mayor to explain his thinking, and an independent review to assess taxpayer risks if Chicago gets the games.

Opposed Franklin County (Ohio) prosecutor Ron O’Brien is opposing former Ohio State football star Maurice Clarett’s request for early release from prison to pursue an NFL career. O’Brien says the former Buckeyes standout hasn’t made a strong case to be released so early in his prison term. Clarett was sentenced in September 2006 to serve at least 3 1/2 years for a holdup outside a Columbus, Ohio, bar and a separate highway chase earlier that year that ended with police finding loaded guns in his SUV.

Held Former mountain biking world champion Melissa “Missy” Giove was ordered held on $250,000 bail after federal authorities said they seized more than 200 pounds of marijuana from a truck she was driving in upstate New York.

Ruled At Montreal, Hockey Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur has been given a one-year suspended sentence, fined $100 and ordered to donate $10,000 to charity for giving contradictory testimony during his son’s 2007 bail hearing.

Banned Tour de France organizers banned former world champion Tom Boonen from next month’s race after the Belgian rider tested positive for cocaine for the second time in less than year.

Withdrawn France’s Gael Monfils has pulled out of Wimbledon with a wrist injury. The withdrawal comes a week after the 14th-ranked Frenchman had to pull out of his scheduled match against Steve Darcis at the Queen’s Club tournament.