FATE OF MLB IN SEATTLE TO BE LEFT IN HANDS OF VOTERS

       "After two days of hectic negotiations," the King County
Council on Friday voted 7-6 to approve a September ballot
proposal on a sales tax hike for a stadium package worth between
$280-$325M to the Mariners, according to the SEATTLE POST-
INTELLIGENCER.  Voters will be asked to decide if they are
willing to pay $7.50 apiece each year via a .1 cent sales tax
hike to keep the team in Seattle, "remodel the Kingdome, and dig
King County government out of a $70 million financial hole."
Mariners VP Paul Isaki:  "We're finally at a point we can
concentrate on the campaign to get (the stadium) done.  For the
first time, we have the political will and the means to
accomplish it on the same plate" (Boren & Foster, SEATTLE POST-
INTELLIGENCER, 7/22).