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Vikings Stadium

March 2, 2012 by · Comments Off on Vikings Stadium 

Vikings Stadium, It has taken the Minnesota Vikings nearly a decade to get this far in their quest for a new stadium. There is a lot more work to be done.

Gov. Mark Dayton and Vikings owners Mark and Zygi Wilf unveiled plans Thursday for a new, $975 million stadium that would be built nearly on top of the Metrodome site in downtown Minneapolis. The deal, assembled behind closed doors in recent weeks, was a key step toward getting a plan in front of state lawmakers and other civic leaders for approval.

Still, the plan is a far cry from becoming reality. “Every single politician is now going to have to make a tough decision,” said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a stadium booster who must now persuade a majority of skeptical city council members to dedicate sales tax proceeds to the effort.

Also standing between the Vikings and a new stadium are 201 state lawmakers, all of them up for reelection later this year and many of them unconvinced that $737 million in public money should be contributed to the plan.

“I can’t see a way for me to vote for it,” said Sen. Jeff Hayden, a Minneapolis Democrat. “My constituents have weighed in consistently that they do not want public financing of private stadiums.”

Backers of the proposal said it would benefit not just the Vikings but the state of Minnesota. Under their deal, the team would collect all stadium revenue raised as a result of football games there. But the stadium would be owned by a new public entity that would keep all other profits, from other sporting events to rock concerts and the like.

The deal calls for covering the $975 million construction tab with $398 million from the state, $150 million from the city of Minneapolis, and $427 million from the Vikings. In addition, Minneapolis would eventually provide another $189 million in operating costs while the team would kick in another $327 million to that end.

Dome Collapse

December 12, 2010 by · Comments Off on Dome Collapse 

Dome Collapse, (AP) – More than 1,000 flights were canceled at Chicago and the roads are closed in several states as a powerful winter storm roared through the Midwest.

Officials say more than 900 flights were canceled at O’Hare International Airport and more than 250 were canceled at Midway International Airport. Both airports also reported delays.

The main roads in several states have been closed due to poor driving conditions and accidents. A section of Interstate 80 in north-central Illinois has been arrested after the pileup of several cars west of Peru.

The storm system dumped nearly two feet of snow in parts of Minnesota and caused the tire, Teflon roof of the Metrodome in Minneapolis to collapse. The Minnesota Vikings-New York Giants game was moved to Detroit tomorrow night’s Ford Field.

At least one weather-related death was reported. The authorities of St. Cloud, Minnesota, for example, a man died of a heart attack after collapsing while snow blowing his entry.

© 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Vikings Stadium Collapse

December 12, 2010 by · Comments Off on Vikings Stadium Collapse 

Vikings Stadium Collapse, The collapse of the roof of the Metrodome early Sunday morning has left the Vikings and the Giants without a place for their Week 14 clash, but they should be happy that they are not inside when it happened.

The “deflated” roof seemed to swell in the dome – a leak of more snow in small streams of powder – as seen from inside the stadium.

Forecasters say the Santa Ana winds blowing in from abroad could send Southern California temperatures to near record levels.

Jamie Meier of the National Weather Service said downtown Los Angeles could see a high of 82 degrees on Sunday. The record for December 12 is 86 degrees in 1895.

Temperatures in the region of Los Angeles should remain in the 80 to a cooling trend begins Tuesday.

High winds arrived Saturday with hurricane force gusts above Whitaker Peak. City News Service said wind gusts in the mountains near Lake Castaic hit 78 miles per hour.

Winds exceeded 50 mph in some mountain areas before decreasing Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the Midwest trying to dig from a snowstorm that caused the roof of Teflon Minnesota Vikings stadium collapse.

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