Overtown vote nudges stadium along

The Miami City Commission voted to expand an Overtown special taxing district, a political tradeoff that increases the likelihood that the Florida Marlins will get a new $639 million stadium. Overtown area Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones used her status as a potential swing vote on the Little Havana stadium project to get concessions from the rest of the council. Spence-Jones said she only sought what had been promised in December 2007, when Miami and Miami-Dade leaders announced plans for $3 billion worth of downtown Miami public works projects and a ballpark for the Marlins. That blueprint included improvements for Overtown.