Dome should be OK
Superdome officials say the stadium should be largely cleaned up from Hurricane Katrina and ready for the New Orleans Saints to play at least some of their games there in 2006.
The announcement Thursday came as San Antonio officials said they were working with Saints owner Tom Benson to keep the team in Texas. The state of Louisiana must also respond to the team’s assertions that its state-owned practice facility has been rendered unusable by damages caused by federal agencies in the weeks following the Aug. 29 storm.
The Superdome, severely damaged by high winds, should have a temporary roof in place within 10 days, said Doug Thornton, regional vice president for SMG, which manages the stadium.
“We’re working to make the Dome ready for the next season,” Thornton said at a meeting of the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District Commission, the state board that oversees the Superdome.
The Saints have drawn criticism recently with shakeups in upper-level staff, as Benson apparently leans toward moving the team from New Orleans to San Antonio.
On Monday, Benson fired Arnold Fielkow, the team’s top business executive since 2000 and an advocate for keeping the Saints in Louisiana. Fielkow has said that stance led to his dismissal.
The team also sent a letter to the Louisiana National Guard and the stadium commission, saying their Jefferson Parish practice facility has been damaged so badly by federal actions after the storm that the team cannot return “for some time (if ever).”
“These actions have effectively terminated the Saints’ lease for the facility and have caused great and continuing damage to the team,” said the letter, signed by lawyers for the team.
Murdered man was at bar earlier
Seattle police confirmed that a man shot to death this week had been, a few hours earlier, at a bar where two men beat up Seattle Seahawks safety Ken Hamlin.
Officers did not say whether they believe Terrell Milam, 31, was involved in the fight with Hamlin early Monday, as Milam’s family has contended. The detectives have been investigating whether there was a connection between the fight and Milam’s death a few hours later.
Police Department spokesman Rich Pruitt said Milam, who had a long criminal history including a manslaughter conviction, visited with a number of other people in the time between the fight and when he was found dead on a sidewalk near Seattle’s Seward Park, about 5 1/2 miles from the bar.
Hamlin suffered a fractured skull, a blood clot on the brain and a fractured hand in the fight. He was moved out of the intensive care unit at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center on Wednesday and remained in satisfactory condition Thursday.
FBI will review findings on yacht cruise
The FBI said that it will review the findings of a Hennepin County (Minn.) Sheriff’s Department investigation into alleged lewd behavior by several Minnesota Vikings players and others during a party two weeks ago aboard two chartered yachts on Lake Minnetonka.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Tabman and Sheriff Patrick McGowan met this week to discuss how to proceed should the investigation uncover any possible violation of federal laws, said FBI spokesman Paul McCabe.
The sheriff’s report is likely to be completed next week.
Strippers were flown in from Atlanta, Florida and South Carolina to take part in the Oct. 6 cruise, according to two law-enforcement sources. Transporting people across state lines for the purpose of prostitution is a federal felony offense.
Around the league
Detroit Lions coach Steve Mariucci said he was still deciding between sticking with Joey Harrington or switching to Jeff Garcia as his starting quarterback for Sunday’s game at Cleveland. … Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair missed a second straight practice, this one for personal reasons. He is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game with Arizona because of a sore back and ankle. … Barring any setback, wide receiver Nate Burleson will be in uniform Sunday for the Minnesota Vikings against the Green Bay Packers. Burleson has been out of the lineup since spraining the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Cincinnati on Sept. 18.