Liberty Bell

A man who threatened to blow up the Liberty Bell was detained Saturday after leaving two backpacks nearby that he said contained explosives, police said. Police said they found no explosives. The man was expected to be charged, Philadelphia police spokeswoman Officer Christine O'Brien said. He had not been publicly identified Saturday night, pending the formal filing of charges, O'Brien said. A police source said the man was not from the Philadelphia area and did not appear to have a criminal record.

The Nativity scene across from the Liberty Bell is perfectly legal. So is the giant Hanukkah menorah that will join it on Judge Lewis Quadrangle. And as a Ku Klux Klan cross erected on Cincinnati's public square a few years ago was legal, so are any other symbols - whether benign or offensive - with the proper permits. As Daily News religion writer Ron Goldwyn noted in a report on the creche yesterday, the Supreme Court has held that any symbols are permitted where demonstrations or other free speech expressions are allowed.

Dave Rosen won the Class A championship of the Liberty Bell Softball Squash Racquets tournament by defeating Russ Ball, 10-8, 9-1, 9-1, yesterday at the Berwyn Squash and Fitness Club. Rosen, the Agnes Irwin School coach and an employee of the U.S. Squash Racquets Association in Cynwyd, was extended to an extra game in the semifinals by Tripp Davis and won, 9-1, 9-7, 5-9, 9-2. Ball, a former Harvard player and former Philadelphia junior champion, also prevailed in four games, beating Bruce Hopper, 9-10, 9-6, 9-7, 9-6.

Growing up in this city, I visited Independence Mall and touched the Liberty Bell a half dozen times or more. I visited the bell on gradeschool trips, and my father would take the family to Independence Hall on the Fourth of July to hear speeches and listen to the patriotic band music. In those days, the Liberty Bell was located at Independence Mall. Now it's at Fifth and Market Streets in its own building, across the street from a $9 million pavilion now under construction for the bell.

Attendance at the Liberty Bell, Philadelphia's most-visited attraction, continued its summerlong slump in August, the National Park Service said yesterday. Park and local tourism officials have been puzzled by the drop in visitors to the Bell and most of the rest of Independence National Historical Park that first became noticeable in June. Restaurant and hotel operators have said that their businesses have not reflected similar drops. Park personnel counted 187,379 visitors in the Liberty Bell pavilion in August, a drop of nearly 11 percent from the 210,163 in August 1997.

After it was all over, Esther R. Sylvester celebrated her acquittal in U.S. District Court by walking one block south from the courthouse to the Liberty Bell. And then she went to church. Sylvester said last night that she figured both visits were in order after her eight-day extortion trial ended with the jury deciding that she was not guilty of illegally accepting $300 from Roofers Union leader Stephen J. Traitz Jr. "We went in there and just touched it," said Sylvester, explaining how she and former Eagles general manager and longtime friend Jim Murray had visited the Liberty Bell.

At a ceremony yesterday in front of the Art Museum, the arrival of the New Freedom Bell was marked after its 10,000-mile nationwide tour. The bell is to be a feature of Philadelphia's Freedom Festival Parade tonight and a highlight of festivities later in Wilmington, Valley Forge and Camden. It was commissioned by Nichiren Shoshu Soka Gakkai of America, a Buddhist lay organization, and donated to the city by the group in celebration of the Constitution bicentennial. A certified replica of the Liberty Bell, the bell was cast in London by Whitechapel Foundry Ltd. in the same pit in which the original Liberty Bell was made.

A Buddhist sect wants to present an oversize replica of the Liberty Bell to the City of Philadelphia as the sect's gift to the Constitution celebration here. The city, however, not only has the real thing smack in the middle of Independence Mall, it also already has an oversize replica, which hangs in a tower at the National Park Service Visitor Center at Third and Chestnut Streets and was presented by Queen Elizabeth in 1976. So what does the city want with another copy? "No decision has been made on accepting it permanently," Charles Houston, a spokesman for the City Representative's Office, said Friday.

The strong, loud clanging of the New Freedom Bell rang out across the Scenic Hills Elementary School parking lot. The more than 400 spectators, most of them youngsters in grades one through four, were impressed. "It sounded loud," said Steven Vescovich, 6, of Springfield. "Yeah, and it was heavy," said Amira Dickerson, 8, of Springfield. The bell, a reproduction of the Liberty Bell, was taken to the school Thursday by 24 representatives of the Nichiren Shoshu Soka Gakkai of America (NSA)

When Carlos Balsas visited Philadelphia in January, he, like many tourists, decided to visit the Liberty Bell. The unanswered question is why the former Arizona university professor - unlike most tourists - decided to tell security screeners at the bell pavilion that he was carrying explosives. It turned out that he wasn't, but he's going to face trial just the same. On Friday, Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Felice Rowley Stack ordered Balsas, 41, of Tempe, Ariz., held on a felony bomb threat count and two related charges.

A FORMER Arizona State University assistant professor arrested in January after telling Liberty Bell security personnel that he had explosives in his backpack was held for trial Friday. Carlos Balsas, 41, of Tempe, Ariz., didn't have explosives the morning of Jan. 26, but his alleged threat and odd behavior made security at the historic landmark scramble. It also forced a brief stoppage of traffic on Market Street. After he uttered the threat as a screener was searching his bag, security was called.

When Carlos Balsas visited Philadelphia in January, he, like many tourists, decided to visit the Liberty Bell. The unanswered question is why the former Arizona university professor - unlike most tourists - decided to tell security screeners at the bell pavilion that he was carrying explosives. It turned out that he wasn't, but he's going to face trial just the same. On Friday, Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Felice Rowley Stack ordered Balsas, 41, of Tempe, Ariz., held on a felony bomb threat count and two related charges.

CARLOS J. BALSAS apparently has a thing for state and national monuments. A former Arizona State University professor and urban planner, he led a movement to revitalize Arizona's aged and decrepit state Capitol. But on Saturday, when Balsas, 41, of Tempe, Ariz., came to the Liberty Bell Center, preservation was the furthest thing from his mind. About 10:05 a.m., a security officer told Balsas that he had to check his bags. While security personnel examined his backpack, Balsas said, "I have explosives in there," according to police.

Police have charged a former Arizona State University assistant professor with making terroristic threats for allegedly claiming to have explosives Saturday morning as he entered the Liberty Bell Center. Carlos J. Balsas, 41, of Tempe, Ariz., entered the center shortly after 10 a.m. and, like all visitors, encountered a security check. Police said a security officer began searching Balsas's backpack when Balsas said, "I have explosives in there. " He then left. When National Park Service rangers stopped Balsas in the 700 block of Market Street, he was uncooperative and struggled briefly before being handcuffed, police said.

A man who threatened to blow up the Liberty Bell was detained Saturday after leaving two backpacks nearby that he said contained explosives, police said. Police said they found no explosives. The man was expected to be charged, Philadelphia police spokeswoman Officer Christine O'Brien said. He had not been publicly identified Saturday night, pending the formal filing of charges, O'Brien said. A police source said the man was not from the Philadelphia area and did not appear to have a criminal record.

Police have charged a former Arizona State University professor with terroristic threats for allegedly claiming to have explosives Saturday morning as he entered the Liberty Bell Center. Police identified the man as Carlos J. Balsas, 41, of Tempe, Ariz. Balsas entered the tourist site shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday, where visitors must pass through a security check. Police said a security officer began to search Balsas's backpack when he stated, "I have explosives in there. " He then left.

A man threatening to blow up the Liberty Bell was detained Saturday, police said, after leaving two backpacks nearby that he said contained explosives. Police investigated and found no explosives. The man was expected to be charged, Officer Christine O'Brien, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Police Department, said Saturday evening. He had not been identified as of late Saturday night. A police source said the man was not from the Philadelphia area and did not appear to have a criminal record.

Schools closed for the day. Businesses shuttered. No sales in stores in major malls. No justice in the courts. No tourists at the Liberty Bell. No trains, no buses, and no chance for Monday's late-afternoon seminar on "Airbrush Bridal Makeup. " "She begins with an eyebrow shaping service using only tweezers, scissors, eye shadow and blush," read the description of the seminar, set for 4:30 p.m. Monday at the Convention Center. Organizers of the Aesthetics Expo: International Congress of Esthetics and Spa decided Sunday to cancel events Monday, the final day of its three-day convention, disappointing 3,000 attendees and stranding some exhibitors.