Free Republic

The city of Hartford's investment in the Downtown North development, which includes construction of the Dunkin' Donuts Park baseball stadium, exceeds $102 million to date, according to an audit from Hartford's Internal Audit Commission released publicly Friday. Originally priced at $56 million for initial construction funding and bonded at $63.3 million, the unfinished stadium's pricetag has now jumped to $71.7 million, the audit said. For the overall Downtown North development, which includes road work, engineering and other infrastructure work, the total costs to the city are $102.5 million to date, the audit report said. That $102 million does not include...

The Hartford Yard Goats are rewriting the lyrics to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” after announcing earlier this month its Dunkin’ Donuts Park will be peanut-free. The Yard Goats, Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, are believed to be the first team to ban peanuts for an entire season. Peanuts are prevalent at baseball stadiums, making it difficult for children with peanut allergies to attend games. The Yard Goats held two peanut-free games last year where the park banned the item and did a deep clean of the stadium.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Radio shock jock Howard Stern, who is moving to satellite radio to avoid broadcast decency rules, traded verbal jabs on air with Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) Chairman Michael Powell on Tuesday, charging him with nepotism and undermining free speech. "It is apparent to most of us in broadcasting that your father got you your job," said Stern, who called in while Powell was being interviewed on San Francisco's KGO-AM 810. Powell shot back that his father, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), had nothing to do with his appointment. The FCC...