clarinews@clarinet.com (01/17/90)
TORONTO (UPI) -- Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard continued to improve Tuesday in a Miami hospital as an apparent battle loomed over legal guardianship of his affairs. Ballard, 86, suffering from kidney problems, was upgraded to satisfactory from serious condition by Baptist Hospital, but it is still not known when he'll be able to return to Toronto. Ballard, hobbled for years by diabetes and heart ailments, was flown to the hospital in critical condition Jan. 5 when beset by medical problems while vacationing in the Cayman Islands. Ballard's hockey and business empire, estimated to be worth at least $100 million, are being run by his board of directors in his absence, while his children last week won a court order appointing a Miami lawyer his temporary guardian while he remains in Florida. Ballard's long-time companion Yolanda Ballard, 57, who legally changed her name in 1988, has reportedly hired lawyers to contest the guardianship. There is speculation that Yolanda, who has repeatedly said she gives Ballard the will to live, will argue she has functioned as his nurse for some time. Sources close to Ballard's children reportedly said they sought the guardianship to ensure he didn't marry Yolanda while in Florida. Ballard had called off a surprise wedding to Yolanda in the Cayman Islands hours before he was rushed to hospital there Jan. 3. Yolanda has rented a private suite in the hospital since Ballard was admitted, hospital spokesman Adrienne Sylver said. Since guardianship was granted to lawyer Paul Cowan last week, the hospital has restricted Yolanda's round-the-clock access to Ballard to regular visiting hours, Sylver said. Ballard's son, Bill, and daughter, Mary-Elizabeth Flynn, are visiting Ballard, who has been moved from a critical care ward to a regular care private suite, Sylver said. A second son, Harold Jr., is in Toronto with the flu, Sylver said. The hospital is aware of tensions between Ballard's children and Yolanda and is keeping the parties apart, Sylver said. Bill was convicted of assault last fall after tussling with Yolanda in Harold Ballard's hospital room, while the elder Ballard was recuperating.