WI GOV. SIGNS BREWERS STADIUM FINANCING PLAN INTO LAW

     WI Gov. Tommy Thompson signed into law yesterday a financing
plan for a new $250M stadium for the Brewers.  Plans call for the
stadium to be modeled in the style of Brooklyn's Ebbets Field,
but with a retractable roof and luxury seating.  The bill creates
a stadium authority that will levy a tenth of a percent sales tax
increase in Milwaukee and four surrounding counties.  The tax
helps pay off $160M in bonds issued to pay for the public's share
of the cost.  The team has agreed to pay $90M of construction
costs with the help of a $50M loan from the WI Housing and
Economic Development Authority.  Before signing the financing
plan into law, Thompson vetoed language in the bill that would
have made the stadium a non-smoking facility.  Thompson said the
ban might raise constitutional problems and problems for the team
and the stadium authority if Philip Morris' Miller Brewing wants
to purchase the naming rights (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL,
10/13).