SILENT NIGHT: S.A. SCHOOL DISTRICT ENDS TALKS WITH SPURS

          The North East School District trustees, by a 5-2 vote
     Monday, "ended discussions with the Spurs over a proposed
     tax-funded $157 million arena in the Longhorn Quarry,"
     according to Cecilia Balli of the SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS. 
     Team officials had said that a vote by the school board to
     end the talks "would kill the project."  During the meeting,
     which was "well-attended" by North East board meeting
     "regulars" and Spurs' fans, trustees listened to three hours
     of financial analyses and an hour of public comments "that
     both blasted and praised the proposal."  Trustee Bill
     McCabe, who voted against district participation in the
     arena talks: "The Spurs are not the enemy, and I hope we're
     not their enemy.  This is an issue about how to finance the
     arena, period."  The board's decision now "throws into
     question" a City Council vote set for Thursday on whether to
     create a 3,200-acre TIF district "central" to the Spurs'
     arena funding plan (S.A. EXPRESS-NEWS, 12/15).