In Baltimore, Scharper & Broadwater cited documents that show that Mayor STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE's guests in the city's skybox at Ravens games this past season "included a small circle of city employees, prominent business leaders, donors to her campaign and several family members." City officials said that there are "no restrictions on whom they mayor can invite to the skybox, which is provided at no cost to Rawlings-Blake." At the Ravens' last home game before Baltimore's primary election in September, the mayor's guests "included her chief political fundraiser, a high-profile lawyer whose firm donated generously to her campaign and the head of a union who later appeared at a campaign event with her." A mayoral spokesperson yesterday said that the tickets were "not intended as a reward for campaign donations or political support" (Baltimore SUN, 2/9).
UNIFYING WORKERS: The AP's Tales Azzoni noted workers "building and renovating Brazil's stadiums for the 2014 World Cup are threatening to go on strike if employers don't agree to their demands for unified salaries and benefits." Union leader CLAUDIO DA SILVA GOMES said Tuesday that the workers are "ready to go on strike as early as next month if construction companies don't agree to give employees the same salaries and benefits regardless of which venue they are working on." FIFA has said that World Cup preparations are "already behind schedule and stadium construction has been one of the main concerns" (AP, 2/7).
STOCK IN CAESARS: In Boston, Jerry Kronenberg notes a new filing shows that Patriots Owner ROBERT KRAFT "holds a $1.3 million stake in" Caesars Entertainment. Caesars, which began "trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market yesterday after an initial public offering, disclosed in a regulatory filing that a Kraft company owned some 85,000 pre-IPO shares in the firm." The disclosure comes just weeks after Kraft and Las Vegas developer STEVE WYNN "unveiled plans to challenge Caesars and other gambling firms for the single Greater Boston casino license available under a new state gambling law" (BOSTON HERALD, 2/9).
NAMES: TSN broadcaster MICHAEL LANDSBERG's documentary, "DARKNESS AND HOPE: DEPRESSION, SPORTS AND ME," will feature former NHLer STEPHANE RICHER, Canadian Olympic Gold Medal-winning speedskater CLARA HUGHES, former MLBer DARRYL STRAWBERRY and Landsberg "sharing their own struggles with depression." The documentary will air Wednesday at 7:00pm ET on CTV (TORONTO STAR, 2/9)....Officials with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are recruiting Pro Football HOFer HARRY CARSON to race against U.S. Rep. SCOTT GARRETT (R-N.J.). Carson yesterday said that he is "interested" (NEWSDAY, 2/9)....Project Cupid Saturday night will auction off a date with TWC Lakers reporter HEIDI WATNEY with proceeds going to the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/9)....Giants RB BRANDON JACOBS, LB GREG JONES, QB ELI MANNING, CB COREY WEBSTER and team Chair & Exec VP STEVE TISCH Tuesday dined at N.Y.’s Abe & Arthur’s, where they were presented with a cake shaped like a championship trophy (N.Y. POST, 2/9)….Actress JANE LYNCH and model KATE UPTON, who co-star in the upcoming film “THE THREE STOOGES,” will serve as Grand Marshals for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 26 (Daytona Int’l Speedway)….Rossetti Architects President MATT ROSSETTI has been elevated to the College of Fellows by the American Institute of Architects (Rossetti)….ESPN’s CHRIS BERMAN and actor LUCAS BLACK yesterday won the 3M Celebrity Challenge at Pebble Beach, “capturing four skins and $40,000 apiece for their respective charities” (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 2/9).
