Sentence:  These booze customers had until then been buying their supplies from the Sheldon , Saltis-McErlane , and Druggan-Lake gangs , and <WSD>now</WSD> they were competing for trade with the Torrio-Capone saloons ; once again O ' Banion 's brash recklessness had caused a proliferation of ill will . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events