Lots of stadium news as the day of the D.C. City Council vote on the baseball stadium proposal is here. The Post reports that Mayor Anthony Williams has lined up enough votes to get his proposal for a South Capitol Street stadium passed by the council. The two crucial votes, Ward 1’s Jim Graham (left) and Ward 8’s Sandy Allen, have been secured. In exchange for their support, Williams will fund library improvements (Graham’s request) and build a recreation center (Allen’s request).

But wait, following the lukewarm response to her RFK site proposal, D.C. City Council Chairman Linda Cropp now has a new alternative to the mayor’s stadium plan, WTOP reports. But Cropp, who intends to unveil her new plan this morning, has not released any details.

The Post polled District residents on whether they supported constructing the stadium with public financing. The results? Sixty-nine percent of those polled were opposed to the public financing plan. And in news that is certain to make Peter Angelos cry, Baltimore Orioles fans in D.C. said they would attend D.C. games “and proportionally fewer Orioles games.”

While the Nationals appears to be baseball’s favored name of the team, the poll found that people favor the old name, the Senators. (40 percent for the Senators, 14 percent for the Nationals, 10 percent for the Grays.)

While Mayor Williams’ proposal would tax businesses to raise the cash to construct the South Capitol Street stadium, he is still battling the perception that normal taxpayers will somehow be stuck with the bill.

Williams has been on the defensive, fielding questions about Cropp’s latecoming first alternative proposal and other stadium matters on a washingtonpost.com chat. Williams (right) noted that Cropp’s RFK stadium site wouldn’t work because MLB wants the South Capitol Street site. He’s clearly staking his political legacy on the stadium deal. From the Post’s chat with the mayor:

I was elected to enslave myself to the people the great majority of the time, leaving me to use my own judgment (even at my political peril) in a few key instances. I’m leading here, not following, because it’s in the long-term interests of the city.

In related news, Williams has picked a chief executive to head up the Anacostia Waterfront Corp., the organization that will oversee the District’s ambitious redevelopment plans for the waterfront, which the proposed baseball stadium is a major component.

In Other News: Yesterday’s hearing on the request of Ronald Reagan shooter John Hinckley to have overnight visits at his parents’ home in Williamsburg, Va., looked at Hinckley’s past relationship with another patient at St. Elizabeths Hospital. According to the Post, Hinckley had a relationship with a woman who murdered her 10-year-old daughter in 1982. Apparently, the relationship was broken off long ago because the woman couldn’t handle the stress of being Hinckley’s girlfriend with the Secret Service “scrutinizing her financial records, her trash and her travels.”

Cold-Hearted Theft: The Salvation Army’s Christmas headquarters in the former G.C. Murphy’s store on Wisconsin Avenue next to the Soviet Giant was raided and ransacked. The AP, via WJLA, reports that $3,000 worth of toys and computers containing databases of aid recipient contact information were taken, making the prospects of a Merry Christmas bleak for those the Salvation Army serves.

Slow Go in Woodley Park, But Above Ground: More bad commuting news for Woodley Park. The 2600 block of Connecticut Avenue, which runs in front of the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan metrorail station, was shut during the evening rush hour because of a suspicious briefcase. The Post reports that it was determined that the briefcase contained clothes.

Briefly Noted: The Prince Georges County couthouse fire was apparently caused by a lighting fixture … In case you haven’t noticed, it’s cold outside … A sick tiger was euthanised at the National Zoo … A memorial wall of young victims of homocide has risen in Anacostia …