STAN'S THE MAN: INKS DEAL TO KEEP DENVER TEAMS IN CITY

          The city of Denver and Avalanche/Nuggets/Pepsi Center
     Owner Stan Kroenke have "resolved the issue that killed an
     earlier deal" to sell the assets, according to Greg Griffin
     of the DENVER POST.  Denver's Special Projects Dir Liz Orr
     said that Kroenke has "agreed to place the assets in a trust
     structured so that the teams will not leave Denver even if he
     dies."  Orr said that "should Kroenke die, ownership of the
     assets could be transferred to someone else, but the trust's
     guarantees keeping the teams in Denver would stay intact." 
     Kroenke "could not be" reached Thursday for comment on the
     reported resolution.  Orr added that Kroenke's $404M bid for
     93.5% of the assets of Ascent Entertainment Group is
     "tentatively set to close next Friday" (DENVER POST, 6/30).