Officials with Astrodome USA are asking Harris County
taxpayers to pay for close to $2.5M in renovations to county-
owned facilities (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/23)....Members of the MD
Senate Budget and Taxation Committee criticized the PSL deal
between the MD Stadium Authority and Browns Owner Art Modell.
Members said the fees should be more affordable or that proceeds
help pay for the stadium. Some "lawmakers now say modifying the
PSL arrangement could help secure the votes need to pass the
stadium plan through the legislature" (Baltimore SUN,
1/23)....Speedway Motorsports, led by Bruton Smith, purchased the
Bristol, TN, Raceway. The deal gives Speedway Motorsports
ownership of three NASCAR Winston Cup Series tracks (CHARLOTTE
OBSERVER, 1/23). ....Leaders of the bid to bring baseball to
Northern VA asked the VA Assembly to form a new financing
proposal in which the state would pay for a share of construction
costs of a new ballpark. Prospective MLB owner William Collins
said the "easiest plan" would be a 1/4 percent increase in the
4.5% sales tax, applying only to Northern VA (WASHINGTON POST,
1/23)....Despite rumors of a move, Cardinals Owner Bill Bidwill
said "his focus for now is getting a stadium built in the East
Valley" (ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH, 1/23).
