The Hillsborough County Commission "backed off the
idea" of using the county's tourist tax to help aid the
Tampa Sports Authority in paying a $5.2M tax bill for
Raymond James Stadium. The commission voted to spend the
tourist tax on projects such as the Tampa Convention Center
and the Outback Bowl (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 8/25).
RED STORM RISING? In Boston, Meg Vaillancourt reports
that city planners "hope" that Fenway residents and business
leaders "will finally agree" at tonight's community meeting
on the "creation of a neighborhood planning task force" for
the Red Sox' proposed new ballpark. Opponents of the new
ballpark have argued that the task force "was merely the
city's attempt to placate residents, while allowing the Sox
to move forward" with plans for a new park. But after two
closed-door meetings, city officials believe "there is now a
consensus" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/25).
MORE NOTES: In Houston, John Williams reports that the
Harris County-Houston Sports Authority has learned that the
general contractor at Enron Field, Brown & Root, has been
"submitting claims that could push the cost" of the new
stadium over the "promised cap" of $250M. Also, Brown &
Root said that the project is "24 days behind schedule"
(HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/25)....In Miami, Harriet Johnson
Brackey writes that "about" 175 food-service workers from
Miami Arena "are fighting for the first shot at jobs" in the
new AmericanAirlines Arena. The $5.70-an-hour part-time
jobs "are valued, in part, because they carry health-
insurance benefits" (MIAMI HERALD, 8/25)....Saturday's
Packers-Saints game at the Superdome will be played on
"grass-trucked-in rolls of sod." The Saints will test out
the new turf during Thursday's practice (N.O. TIMES-
PICAYUNE, 8/24)....Crews drilled a handful of support holes
for the new Steelers stadium "in the wrong places," but the
problem "has been corrected without raising the cost or
delaying the project." Steelers Communications Coordinator
Ron Wahl said that six of 500 pile caps "were misplaced"
because of "minute" errors in the survey of the site
(Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 8/25).
