Seahawks Want Trial Moved

Lawyers for Seattle Seahawks owner Ken Behring have asked a judge to move the upcoming trial over the team’s Kingdome lease out of King County to Ellensburg, 105 miles away.

In legal briefs filed in King County Superior Court this week, Seahawks lawyers said the scales are tilted against them in Seattle. They noted that Seattle residents are angry over the team’s attempted move to Southern California, and said the issue has raised “more intense public furor than any local event in recent memory.”

They also said one-sided publicity against Behring and his son, Seahawks president David Behring, has endangered their chance for a fair trial in Seattle.

The change-of-venue motion will be heard by King County Superior Court Judge Jim Bates on Thursday.

King County will file its response to the motion in a few days, said Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the county prosecutor’s office. Trial is set for May 28.

A Dallas man allegedly tried to extort $119,000 from troubled Cowboys star Michael Irvin, authorities said. Teddy Wayne Solomon, 44, was arrested April 2 by investigators who had arranged to make the payment demanded of Irvin and his attorney, Kevin Clancy. He was charged with felony attempted theft.

In an interview with Dallas station KLIF-AM Wednesday, Irvin said extortionists threatened to blow up his lawyer’s office unless he paid $119,000. The extortionists claimed the debts were for drugs, he said.

Jim McMahon accepted a two-year contract with Green Bay as backup quarterback to Brett Favre.

Backup quarterback Frank Reich signed a two-year deal with the New York Jets. Reich played last year with the expansion Carolina Panthers.