AFTER REJECTION OF 'CANES OFFER, PUBLIC MAY PAY OVERRUNS

          In Raleigh, NC, Centennial Authority members yesterday
     "rejected a proposal" from the Hurricanes to cover the $20M
     "shortfall" for the new Raleigh arena, "a move that could
     force taxpayers to dig deeper into their pockets," according
     to Willis & Politi of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER.  After
     meeting yesterday, the Authority "recommended turning down"
     the team's offer, as members "apparently thought there were
     too many strings attached."  Board member Reef Ivey, on the
     Canes' $20M loan offer: "[It] truly reads like a bank loan. 
     If you total all of this up, it costs millions of dollars." 
     Dean Jordan, President & COO of Gale Force Holdings, the
     Canes' parent company, "issued a scathing statement" saying,
     "We find it totally irresponsible that the statement said
     our proposal would 'cost the public millions of dollars' ...
     [W]e refuse to allow the authority to cast the Hurricanes in
     a negative light regarding taxpayers' money."  Willis &
     Politi write that after the rejection of the team's offer,
     it is "clear that using taxpayers' money is now the primary
     option" for funding the overruns (NEWS & OBSERVER, 7/10).