CHAMPAIGN – A campustown bar that voluntarily raised its entry age Friday to 21 years old for "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" was closed by officials early Saturday for violating a special order, and a Champaign bar was closed by the state liquor commission.

Champaign Mayor Jerry Schweighart said Saturday evening that Kam's, 618 E. Daniel St., C, was shut down at about midnight for serving shots of hard liquor, which were prohibited under a special order of the mayor, who also serves as liquor commissioner.

"One of the provisions is not serving shots," he said.

A covert person working with police was served a shot of liquor by a bartender and a customer was also pouring drinks, according to Schweighart.

"They were shut down for the rest of the evening," he said. "The violation does not apply to the bar. I imagine the bartender was written up" for a citation.

Champaign police Sgt. Scott Friedlein said Ellusions, 207 W. Clark St., C, was closed by the Illinois Liquor Commission after it discovered the bar's liquor license had not been renewed.

Ellusions would not be allowed to reopen until it had its state and local liquor licenses in order, according to Friedlein.

Kam's was open again Saturday, but there appeared to be more Illini orange than Kelly green as patrons at the bar were watching the UI beat Iowa in men's basketball. Walking around Campustown Saturday evening, it looked like any weekend, with groups of people eating dinner, working on their laptop computers or pursuing otherwise mundane activities.

"Unofficial St. Patrick's Day," which has become a tradition of daylong binge drinking, was expected to go into a second day Saturday. By Friday afternoon, authorities has closed another popular campus bar, C.O. Daniels, 608 E. Daniel St., through Sunday for violating state law by selling wristbands that entitled customers to all they could drink.

According to Friedlein, officers from Champaign, Urbana, University of Illinois and Illinois State Police had issued tickets to or arrested 198 people as of early Saturday.

The biggest portion was for minors in possession of alcohol, with a large number of citations for possession of alcohol on a public way, he said.

And, as in past years, the majority were not students at the UI, according to Friedlein. Preliminary data shows 30 percent were UI students and 70 percent were from other campuses or were not students.

"It appeared that the level of intoxication was not as blatant this year," Friedlein said. "There was not as much aggressive behavior."

Officers were prepared to hit the streets and check the bars again Saturday, but the enthusiasm for heavy drinking seemed to be tapped out, according to Friedlein.

Police actually began a crackdown on liquor violations earlier in the week, focusing on violations of multiple keg purchases as another way to prevent problems, he said.

Police were receiving many calls Saturday from motorists whose cars had been towed for illegal parking, according to Freidlein.

Between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Friday, 180 vehicles were towed. More than 95 percent were relocation tows, meaning that the owners or designated motorists for those spaces requested them, rather than police, he said.

The heavy police presence, the voluntary raising of entry age and other efforts by local officials all appeared to help reduce problems, Freidlein said.

"The word spread rather quickly that we were doing a number of things," he said.

Champaign police Sgt. Tom Frost said the "Unofficial" partying went beyond Campustown. During the evening hours Friday, officers were busy from Neil Street east to Wright Street and from University Avenue south to the apartment complexes and housing south of the campus, he said.

Police arrested or cited about 180 people last year, with most violations falling under the minor-in-possession or open-alcohol categories. Champaign reported there was about $44,000 in fines from "Unofficial" violations last year. Fines for underage drinking were raised from $290 to $300 effective July 1.

Schweighart, Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing and UI Chancellor Richard Herman jointly sent a letter Jan. 31 asking parents of UI students to encourage responsible behavior. The officials cited disruption of classrooms, damage to property and other problems from the "Unofficial" event. They said 30 people were taken for medical treatment at local hospitals because of the event last year, with another 33 people seeking treatment on their own.

Mike Harrison, spokesman for Carle Foundation Hospital, said late Saturday afternoon, "While we don't have an official method for tracking patients who may have been brought to our emergency department for 'Unofficial St. Patrick's Day,' indications are that this was not an impact on our day-to-day operations."

Robin Kaler, associate chancellor at the UI, said Friday was "certainly not as disruptive as in the past."

"The extra precautions we took were helpful," Kaler said. "The decisions by the bars not to admit people (under 21) was helpful. The goal is to make this event less and less fun."

In bond court Saturday, a 19-year-old male appeared for a bond hearing after being arrested by Champaign police.

Assistant State's Attorney Wayne Maxey said in court that Champaign police officers saw the man in traffic at First and Chalmers streets about 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

He appeared to be intoxicated and was carrying alcohol and tried to get away from police, according to Maxey.

Judge Jeffrey Ford set bond at $5,000, saying, "If he's underage and coming here to drink, he came here to break the law."

However, the judge said it did not appear that many of the people in bond court Saturday were there for crimes related to "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day."