August 16, 2004

Liesl Schillinger reviews Believe in Me...A Bigfoot Musical, Michael Holland's musical-comedy adaptation of Adrien Royce's play Everything That Happens in the Woods Is Real, part of New York International Fringe Festival (M)

Wal-Mart seeks to improve its image by becoming sponsor of National Public Radio, underwriting Tavis Smiley, popular talk show on KCET, public television station in Los Angeles, and offering scholarships to minority students at journalism programs around country; image has suffered from criticism of company's labor practices, expansion plans and selective approach to publications and music it sells in its stores; spokeswoman says company is especially sensitive to need for balanced news coverage; says there is no hidden agenda in its journalistic sponsorships; photos (M)

Federal Bureau of Investigation is questioning political demonstrators across country, even subpoenaing them, in aggressive effort to forestall any violent or disruptive protests at Republican National Convention in New York; officials insist that inquiries are focused solely on possible crimes, not on dissent, at major political events; some people contacted by FBI say they felt harassed by questions about their political plans; unusual initiative comes after Justice Dept gives its blessing to controversial tactics used last year by FBI in urging local police departments to report to counterterrorism squads any suspicious activity at political and antiwar demonstrations; Justice Dept's Office of Legal Policy overruled FBI employee who filed internal complaint, saying bulletins improperly blur line between lawfully protected speech and illegal activity; office claims any First Amendment impact posed by FBI monitoring of political protests is negligible and coonstitutional; photo (M)

Bids for shares of Google in modified Dutch auction that it has chosen as medium for its initial public offering are submitted by both first-time investors betting with their hearts and by more experienced and cautious investors using elaborate auction strategies; every successful bidder will pay same price for stock, but winners will be only those who have bid at or above winning bid; if all winners bid high, they may find themselves paying too much for shares that plummet once they begin trading on open market; too low a bid, however, risks getting nothing; photos (M)

American men's Olympic basketball team suffers first defeat of any American men's basketball team since 1988 Olympics, losing to Puerto Rico by score of 92-73; American team this year, consisting mostly of prominent younger players in NBA, exits court beaten, stunned and embarrassed; just two weeks ago, American team had defeated same Puerto Rican squad in exhibition game by 25 points; United States has not lost men's basketball game in Olympics since it began using professionals from NBA in 1992; increasingly, some of best NBA players have chosen not to take part in Olympics; this year, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Jason Kidd took a pass, citing fatigue, injuries and concerns about security; this prompted United States coach Larry Brown to criticize selection process that left him with young team without skilled outside shooters; photos (M)