newsmakers

newsmakers

Wallenda’s next walk will be in Chicago

NEW YORK

Nik Wallenda is taking his high-wire act to Chicago for a tightrope walk to be televised this fall on Discovery, part of the network’s strategy to entice viewers with live events.

Wallenda’s walk across the Grand Canyon area of Arizona last year reached more than 10 million viewers live on Discovery, an unusually big number for the cable network. The Chicago encore will probably take place in November, Discovery said Thursday.

“We wanted to make a shift from the natural — the Grand Canyon — to an urban environment,” said Eileen O’Neill, Discovery president. “Chicago is a place where Nik’s relatives have performed before. It just provides a number of interesting challenges for him.”

Discovery isn’t revealingSFlbexactly where Wallenda will be skywalking in Chicago, saying it is still seeking a permit. The city is home to the 1,451-foot Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), the nation’s second-highest building. Discovery quoted Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel as saying the city is thrilled to be chosen.

Singer Chris Brown taken into custody

LOS ANGELES

Chris Brown has been taken into custody by U.S. marshals and will be transported to Washington, D.C., for an upcoming misdemeanor-assault trial, an official said Thursday.

Brown was turned over to marshals Wednesday at a Los Angeles jail, marshals’ spokeswoman Laura Vega said. She declined to say when the Grammy winner would be sent to Washington.

The singer and his bodyguard are accused of hitting a man outside a Washington hotel in October. Brown is set to go on trial later this month.

A judge in Los Angeles sent Brown to jail in mid-March after the singer was dismissed from a court-mandated rehab program for anger management and other issues.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos had been trying to block Brown’s transfer into marshals’ custody, arguing it would deprive him of the opportunity to properly prepare for the trial.

Associated Press