Houston Voters Approve New $265-Million Stadium

Houston passed a referendum to construct a $265-million downtown stadium for the Astros by a 51% vote on Tuesday, and team owner Drayton McLane could not be happier.

“This will keep baseball here well into the next century,” said McLane before he left for league owners’ meetings in Chicago on Wednesday. “This is something we had to have to be competitive and I’ll be happy to tell the other owners that we’re moving forward in Houston.”

The unofficial results were 396,076 for and 379,678 against.

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Pitcher Bobby Witt has decided to remain a Texas Ranger, choosing to exercise a $2-million option to return next season instead of testing the free-agent market. . . . Chicago Cub second baseman Ryne Sandberg has filed for free agency along with Texas pitcher Jeff Russell, Milwaukee pitcher Doug Jones and Houston pitcher Danny Darwin and outfielder John Cangelosi. . . . New York Yankee pitcher Kenny Rogers underwent surgery to remove bone spurs in his left shoulder and elbow.

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Barry Bonds hit a solo homer and a double as the major league all-stars and Japanese all-stars played to a 6-6 tie at Fukuoka, Japan. The Americans lead the eight-game series, 3-1-1.

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Three Cuban baseball players were heading for the United States after defecting during a tournament in Chiapas, Mexico, a spokesman for Miami sports promoter Jose Cubas said. The three players, who fled their Cuban team during the night, were named as Roberto Colina, William Ortega and Jesus Ametller.

Jurisprudence

Former Los Angeles Ram cornerback Darryl Henley suborned a jail guard to plot the murder of the judge in his cocaine smuggling trial and a cheerleader who testified against him, a prosecutor said as the guard’s conspiracy trial began.

Rodney Anderson, a former U.S. marshal, agreed to carry out the killings but authorities replaced him in the jailhouse plot with an undercover agent named Joey Gambino, assistant U.S. Atty. Marc Harris said in opening remarks.

Seven Virginia Tech football players, including All-American defensive end Cornell Brown and starting fullback Brian Edmonds, were charged with an Aug. 31 attack on Hilliard Sumner III, a member of the school’s track team. In a separate case, defensive tackle Brad Bailer was indicted on a charge of abduction and was suspended for the rest of the season.

Five Rhode Island football players were charged with conspiracy to commit assault and assault after a criminal investigation into the Oct. 7 attack on a school fraternity.

Tennis

Monica Seles defeated Canada’s Patricia Hy-Boulais, 6-1, 6-2, in her opening match at the Bank of the West Classic at Oakland. Lindsay Davenport defeated Amy Frazier, 6-1, 6-4, in a second-round match. . . . Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated unseeded fellow Russian Andrei Chesnokov, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. . . . Defending champion Thomas Enqvist defeated qualifier Richard Fromberg of Australia, 6-3, 6-1, in the first round of the Stockholm Open in Sweden.

Soccer

The opening ceremony and match of the 2002 World Cup will be staged in South Korea and the closing ceremony and final match in Japan, the national South Korean news agency Yonhap said.

Mexico defeated Honduras, 3-1, at Mexico City and will face Canada in a regional qualifying round for the 1998 World Cup.

Miscellany

Mike Rozier, the 1983 Heisman Trophy winner, was shot several times by an assailant who opened fire on a street corner, according to police in Camden, N.J. Rozier, 35, was listed in satisfactory condition after being shot twice in the stomach and once in the hand.

St. John’s basketball players Felipe Lopez and Zendon Hamilton must pay for airline tickets and expenses they made during a free trip to Las Vegas, the school said.

The Canadian Football League revoked the Ottawa Rough Riders franchise from owner Horn Chen after Revenue Canada officials froze the club’s bank account.

Mammoth Mountain opens its ski season on Friday.