LOS ANGELES - A sleepy sports weekend in the Valley is in sharp contrast to what's going on in downtown La-La Land these days. "Insanity," Lee Zeidman said. The vice president and general manager of Staples Center would know. He is spending every waking hour at his workplace as he tries to pull off a feat never attempted in the professional sports arena before. Six games. Four days. One building. This is one brave man. "Or stupid," he said. This inexplicable convergence of sports forces occurred when something equally inexplicable happened. Three of the city's pro teams advanced to the postseason. All three play at Staples Center. The mania even brought together two of Arizona State's more-popular athletes Friday: former basketball standout James Harden was ... Continue reading →

The locker room is a wooden shed, and trash bags and old towels serve as window dressings. The peephole on the front door is a hole that someone poked through a strip of Styrofoam that covers the door's window. That's Fire Station 304 in Surprise. The double-wide manufactured home and a canvas tent covering the station's fire engine were hastily erected in 2002 to provide emergency-response services to an area of the city that was about to explode in population. That was before the housing market tanked. The temporary station, which was intended to be in use for 18 months to 3 years, has now become a permanent fixture near 163rd and Grand avenues. Fire Chief Mike White said the double-wide mobile home was a ... Continue reading →

Glendale is considering two lease agreements to replace most of the 3,200 parking spots around University of Phoenix Stadium, and hopefully stave off a lawsuit. The Arizona Cardinals and the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority, which owns and operates the stadium, notified the city earlier this month it could sue if the city doesn't come up with a solution to replace game-day parking eaten up by a outlet mall under construction. The two groups said they would demand up to $66.7 million to replace the lost parking with garages, unless an acceptable solution was found. The two lease agreements would cost the city nearly $260,000 in the coming fiscal year. A third parcel would be needed to fully make good on its parking promises to ... Continue reading →

A finalized lease agreement with a potential Phoenix Coyotes buyer has yet to emerge publicly but a Glendale City Council majority appears poised to approve a $17 million fee to operate the city-owned arena. That's the price City Manager Ed Beasley said former San Jose Sharks chief and Coyotes suitor Greg Jamison has verbally agreed upon to manage Jobing.com Arena next year. The figure is expected to be included in Glendale's preliminary budget, which council members will vote on Tuesday. The budget must close a $35 million shortfall city officials blame on decreased tax hauls, state assistance and two $25 million pledges to the National Hockey League to keep the Coyotes in Glendale. In February,Glendale staffers penciled in $20 million in arena operations costs for ... Continue reading →