STARS REFUSE LEASE -- RELATIONSHIP WITH CITY WORSENS

      The Stars "angrily refused" to sign a lease with the city
of Dallas yesterday, as the team's "contentious relationship"
with the city "took another turn for the worse."  City officials
had given the team until yesterday to sign a "formal lease" to
continue playing at Reunion Arena.  But Stars President Jim Lites
sent a letter to Dallas City Manager John Ware saying that "the
city's offer fell short of what the team had been promised" when
it moved city from Minneapolis in '93.  According to Lites, the
city promised the team "the same rights and provisions held by
the Mavericks."  But in the latest offer, the Stars "would have
far less favorable dates for nongame events; a smaller-than-
promised space for offices and a club; and would be forced to
install costly adjustable platforms" to alter the seating
configuration, which Lites said are unnecessary (Christopher Ave,
FORT WORTH STAR TELEGRAM, 2/28).