KINGS LOAN STILL LOOKING TO GET THROUGH ITS FINAL HOOP

          The Sacramento City Council gave "what should be the
     last approval needed" to implement a $70M loan to the Kings,
     although council approval "came only after considerable
     debate" about the actual value of Arco Arena, according to
     Tony Bizjak of the SACRAMENTO BEE.  Under the loan deal, the
     city would end up with the arena if the Kings ever default,
     but the value of the arena remained unresolved despite the
     council's loan approval.  While the arena was appraised for
     $87M in '94 by a private valuation company, the county
     assessor set the value of the arena and the property in it
     at just under $49M two years ago for property tax purposes. 
     City staff members "have said they guess the arena would be
     worth about $50M to them, if they were stuck with it."  Two
     pending court suits over the proposed ticket surcharge at
     the arena must still be resolved before a bond sale to
     finance the loan can happen (SACRAMENTO BEE, 4/16).