Facility Notes
In Pittsburgh, Rob Biertempfel notes Pirates Owner Bob Nutting Thursday "christened the sparkling, $5[M] Academia de Beisbol, which will house the Pirates' team in the Dominican Summer League as well as other players invited to train there." Construction on the facility was "finished about 15 months after the groundbreaking in January 2008." Nutting: "From that starting point to today is really transformational for our Latin American operations. I really believe this is the finest facility in the Dominican." Pirates President Frank Coonelly: "If you build a championship organization from within, you've got to be a major player in a market like the Dominican Republic" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 5/1). The team named the main playing field at the facility after late Baseball HOFer Roberto Clemente. Clemente's widow and sons "dedicated the field and unveiled a four-foot stone monument to Clemente" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 5/1).
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Walnut City Officials Talking Of Possible
NFL Stadium Settlement For First Time |
COOLING OF TENSIONS: In California, Bethania Palma Markus reports Walnut, California, city officials, "for the first time since" Majestic Realty Chair & CEO Ed Roski proposed building an NFL stadium in the neighboring City of Industry, are "talking about the possibility of a settlement, though no agreement has been reached." Walnut officials have "stood in adamant opposition to the plan," but some "hope mandatory meetings with Industry could help the ice thaw." Officials said that a meeting "mandated by state environment law is scheduled for May 22 and Walnut is covering its bases by coming up with a dollar figure for impacts by the potential project." Palma Markus notes while neighboring Diamond Bar earlier this month reached a $20M settlement with Industry to "deal with effects from the project, Walnut has filed a lawsuit demanding Industry prepare a new environmental document" (SAN GABRIEL VALLEY TRIBUNE, 5/1).
MISTAKE BY THE LAKE: SPEEDTV.com's Robin Miller wrote IndyCar returning to Cleveland in '10 as an oval would be "a mistake." CART from '82-'07 "staged some of the best open wheel racing ever at Burke Lakefront Airport's road course." But IndyCar officials have told Mi-Jack Promotions CEO Mike Lanigan, whose company promoted the former CART races in Cleveland, he "could have a race again next year but maybe it needed to be an oval." Miller wrote the airport track was "one of the most entertaining tracks Indy cars ever ran on," as there were "big crowds and they would come back with unification, the right prices and promotion." Miller: "Turning Cleveland into an oval would be as dumb as opening practice for the Indianapolis 500 on say, a Wednesday" (SPEEDTV.com, 4/29).
ALL OR NOTHING: In St. Paul, Dennis Lien reported the Univ. of Minnesota "could not restrict alcohol sales to suites and other premium seating" at TCF Bank Stadium under legislation that cleared the Minnesota House of Representatives Wednesday. Minnesota state Rep. Leon Lillie proposed that "alcohol be available throughout the stadium or not at all" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 4/30).
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