"True Costs Of Stadium Go Beyond Budget" from Sunday's Post gives a history of how the stadium went from a $435 million project to a (possibly) $714 million project.

For your reading pleasure this weekend, here's the stadium lease agreement and attachments. It's 108 pages (and a 5.5 MB PDF), so go wild! And if you want to become preeminently qualified in team and stadium minutiae, here's the original contract between the city and MLB that brought the Nats to town, from September 2004. (It's this contract that requires the lease agreement that's now being fought over.)

WTOP is reporting: "[T]he lease for a new baseball stadium has been completed and agreed to by baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Included in the lease is a commitment from Major League Baseball to keep the Nationals in D.C. for 30 years. Also included in the lease - $20 million from baseball toward construction costs. Hall, who is a lead negotiator for the city, says the lease will also provide D.C. a 2/3 share of parking revenues at the stadium on non-game days. The other 1/3 will go to MLB. The Sports and Entertainment Commission will present the lease to the D.C. City Council Friday. A public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16 and the council will vote on the lease Dec. 20. Seven of the the 13 members of the council must vote to approve the lease. D.C. Mayor Tony Williams has acknowledged that council approval of the lease is uncertain at this point." UPDATE: The AP has confirmed this, saying that a copy of the lease was delivered to the council around noon. UPDATE II: Here is Mayor Williams's statement on the agreement, which also includes more details on the lease. Let's remember, though, this still has to be passed by the council.... UPDATE III: The Post has a story up about the agreement--the version for Saturday's print edition fleshes out the various pieces of news of the day, without a few small additional tidbits: MLB is expected to name a new owner shortly after the lease is approved (if it is approved!); CFO Gandhi will give a cost estimate update to the council on Monday; and Mayor Williams has signed off on the final design for the stadium, and it should be unveiled also shortly after the lease is approved. Then the next rush will be on, to get zoning approval and fight any other opposition to the stadium so that shovels can go in the ground in the spring, to get construction completed by March 2008. The WashTimes's story is similar.

Sharon Ambrose's office has just e-mailed (sorry, not available on the web) an announcement of a Public Roundtable to review and discuss the lease agreement of the new baseball stadium between Major League Baseball and the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission; it is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 10 am at the Wilson Building. The public is invited to testify; to do so, contact Ms. Danny Gibson, at (202) 727-6683 by the close of business, Dec. 12. I'm assuming this roundtable will be shown on DC Cable 13 and also via live streaming video, as was the case with the last one.