But it looks like Seattle is not going to get its hands on those teams that easily.

In the latest shadow cast over Seattle’s hopes, National Basketball Association David Stern said in an interview on NBA.com on Tuesday (Feb. 21) that the Hornets may soon be sold to a new buyer that would keep the team in New Orleans. The deal is expected to be completed around March 1.

This news followed Tuesday’s report by the Phoenix Business Journal asserting that the National Hockey League is close to a sale of the Phoenix Coyotes hockey franchise to a group led by former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison. The deal, which was denied by NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, would keep the Coyotes in Phoenix.

Male respondents were more likely to have a definite opinion about McGinn: Just 10 percent said they were unsure about the mayor’s job performance, with 51 percent saying they disapproved and 38 percent saying they approved.

Among women, 27 percent said they approved of the mayor’s performance, while 48 percent disapproved. A quarter of women said they were unsure how to rate McGinn’s performance.

McGinn’s strongest approval rating came from voters in the 18 to 34 range, with 39 percent of this group saying they approved of the mayor’s job performance. Voters between 18 and 49 gave McGinn a 35 percent approval rating, while voters 50 and over only gave him a 27 percent approval rating.

McGinn’s approval rating trailed that of the Seattle City Council (42 percent) and public schools superintendent Susan Enfield (47 percent).

But the mayor had a higher approval rating than Seattle Police Chief John Diaz (30 percent) and the city’s school board (30 percent).

The four were among three groups of skiers — about a dozen people in all — making their way through a foot and a half of fresh snow on the back side of Stevens Pass, in the Cascade Mountains northeast of Seattle, when the avalanche hit.

All were buried to some extent, but the men who died were swept about 1,500 feet down a chute in the Tunnel Creek Canyon area, King County Sheriff’s Sgt. Katie Larson said.

Most of the other skiers, all well-equipped, were able to free themselves and rushed to dig out the victims. They performed CPR on the three men to no avail, Larson said.

The fourth skier who was swept far down the mountain, a woman, appeared to avoid a similar fate because of the avalanche safety device she was wearing, Larson said. Larson didn’t immediately have other details about the device.

The men who died were believed to be in their 30s and 40s.

“From what I’m told, they were all very knowledgeable, expert skiers,” Larson said.

The initial reports of the avalanche reached the sheriff’s office just after noon, and for some time it wasn’t clear whether the other skiers had also been swept up in the slide.

The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center on Sunday issued a warning for high avalanche danger for areas above 5,000 feet, saying warmer weather could loosen surface snow and trigger a slide on steeper slopes. The elevation of the avalanche wasn’t immediately clear.

At mid-afternoon, the temperature at the base of the Stevens Pass ski resort was 24 degrees, with light winds and good visibility. The temperature at the top of the mountain was 22 degrees, according to the resort’s website.

John Gifford, the ski area’s general manager, said Sunday that the resort had received 19 inches of snow in the past 24 hours. However, it wasn’t snowing there Sunday afternoon.

Stevens Pass is one of the most popular outdoor recreation areas in the state, with visitors flocking to the scenic site to go cross-country, back-country and downhill skiing, as well as snowshoeing and backpacking.

It’s been a deadly winter in Washington’s mountains. Four people disappeared in vicious storms while camping and climbing on Mount Rainier last month. The four remain missing, and authorities have said they’re hoping to find their bodies when the snow melts this summer.

Across the West, there had been 13 avalanche deaths this season as of Thursday, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which tracks avalanche deaths in the U.S.

Experts have said the risk of additional slides could remain high all season. They attribute the dangers in part to a weak base layer of snow caused by a dry winter.

Avalanche deaths are more common in the backcountry than at ski resorts. Out of about 900 avalanche deaths nationwide since the winter of 1950-51, 32 were within terrain that was open for riding at ski resorts, according to the Utah Avalanche Center.

Also Sunday, King County Sheriff’s Sgt. Cindi West said a snowboarder was killed in a separate incident at the Alpental ski area east of Seattle. The snowboarder, a man, went over a cliff.

The question now is whether the plans unveiled Thursday by wealthy San Francisco businessman and Seattle native Christopher Hansen will ever become a reality.

Hansen’s proposal would help heal the scars from the SuperSonics’ messy divorce with the city in 2008 that led them to a new home in Oklahoma City, leaving behind more than 40 years of history essentially over an unprofitable arena. But his proposal comes with the condition that no shovels will go into the ground until NBA and NHL franchises are locked in as tenants for the next three decades — not exactly an easy task.

From the fans’ perspective, Hansen’s proposal to the city and King County is a victory after nearly a year worth of behind-the-scenes work. The proposal features an eye-popping $290 million in private investment just for the building itself, not including the cost to Hansen’s investment group for purchasing a new NBA club.

On the surface, there appears to be minimal risk to the local municipalities. Their contribution to the project is capped at $200 million and would not include new taxes, but instead would be paid off through taxes and rent collected on the tenants of a gleaming new building. It could spurn additional revitalization in an area that features Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field, but has its eyesores of vacant buildings and drab warehouses.

The public portion of the proposal would come in the form of bonds issued by the city and county to help cover construction costs and would be paid off over the life of the lease signed by the franchises. The arena would be publicly owned. City Councilman Tim Burgess said he and his colleagues would examine the plan “to make sure that our exposure and risk is zero.”

“When people say there are no new taxes, that’s literally true. But it’s not correct to say public money is not involved,” Burgess said. “We are being asked to sell bonds and finance part of the arena. That raises questions about our debt limit … so there’s lots of questions. The devil is in the details.”

Approval of the proposal would eventually be needed at both the city and county level. But the months of work by lawyers, arena experts, Hansen’s investors and city staff will be for naught unless a franchise is willing to call Seattle its new home.

“My understanding is there are pathways to obtaining a team and (Hansen) is obviously not going to be committing the time and effort he’s been committing so far and the potential dollars unless he feels his prospects are good,” Seattle mayor Mike McGinn said. “Again, that’s his job, not our job. Our job is to make sure we’re in a position to respond and provide an answer.”

The most obvious target for landing that anchor tenant would be Sacramento, where the city faces a March 1 deadline imposed by the NBA for coming up with a financing plan for a new arena in California’s capital city. The lynchpin in Sacramento’s arena plan — a proposal to divert and privatize parking revenues to pay for roughly $200 million of the arena project — is tentatively scheduled for a full City Council vote on Feb. 28.

Public documents released by the city of Seattle show that Hansen is closely watching the situation in Sacramento. But if the Kings can get their new arena, then the question is who the next possible target becomes since the NBA has no plans for expansion. New Orleans is currently operated by the NBA, but commissioner David Stern seems determined to find a local owner who will keep the Hornets in Louisiana. Other franchises are struggling but none are serious candidates for relocation.

While getting the NBA is Hansen’s focus, part of his charge is finding a partner to bring in an NHL franchise. City officials said Thursday that their financial estimates for how the public investment would be paid off are based on the assumption of having both NBA and NHL teams.

Seattle would be an attractive market for the NHL — commissioner Gary Bettman said as much last month at the All-Star Game — and could face competition for either a relocated or expansion franchise from places such as Quebec City and the push for a second Toronto area franchise.

KING 5 has learned Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and hedge fund manager Chris Hansen are still working to finalize a term sheet.  A high ranking county leader said  the deal currently includes substantial private financing, with some debt backed by the city and King County, to repaid through admission fees and “arena generating revenue.”

The final terms are expected to be hammered out Thursday morning, and some council members were being briefing individually prior to the announcement.  McGinn and Constantine planned to make a “major announcement” at 2 p.m. Thursday, though officials have yet to confirm what the announcement is about.

Councilmember Bruce Harrell, who was among those briefed, called it a “win-win” proposal, but also said the deal is “very complicated.” It’s a land deal under Initiative 91. It has to be profitable for the city; at the same time the investor wants some protections on his investment.

A new Seattle citizens advisory group is also being formed to examine the proposed arena’s financial impact on the public.

As KING5 first reported back in December, Hansen’s Valiant Partners of San Francisco purchased a three acre piece of property south of Safeco Field, for $21 Million.  A city hall source with knowledge of the negotiations said late Wednesday that the city would not have to claim eminent domain and Hansen likely secured more property.

A Times story last week stated that Hansen’s representatives and Seattle mayor Mike McGinn’s aides have been talking for eight months about bringing a team back to Seattle as early as Fall 2012. It just so happens that the Sacramento Kings face a March 1 deadline to secure financing for a new arena or else that franchise could make its long-threatened move.

The Seattle Times said Seattle officials have been keeping an eye on developments in Sacramento regarding the Kings’ future there.

The officers pulled the car over and recognized the driver as a sergeant. They also suspected he was under the influence.

The Washington State Patrol was called in to handle the investigation. WSP said the driver was involved in a possible hit-and-run. Troopers took the sergeant into custody then later released him to his supervisor.

SPD said the car was an unmarked police vehicle assigned to the sergeant. It’s believed he was not on duty at the time of the arrest.

The 22-year veteran is assigned to the Special Operations Bureau. SPD said he has been given an investigatory transfer during the investigation.

Once the state patrol has completed its criminal investigation, the Office of Professional Accountability will conduct an administrative investigation.

Seattle police called for state troopers to assist with the investigation, and logs indicate that Fountain refused to submit to a field sobriety test.

A Washington State Patrol drug recognition expert suspected Fountain was under the influence of drugs, so he was driven to Harborview Medical Center to have a blood sample taken.

Records show Fountain was driving an unmarked Seattle Police Department vehicle at the time of the incident.

Fountain was cited and released to a Seattle police captain at the hospital.

Paul Gauguin is forever linked to Polynesia, where he spent the last years of his life. The new show “Gauguin and Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise” features the French artist’s paintings, drawings and carvings, alongside Polynesian sculptures, ceremonial objects and other artworks.

The Storm selected Bird with the No. 1 pick of the 2002 WNBA Draft and Wright with the 12th overall pick in the 2005 Draft. The longest tenured starting backcourt in the WNBA, Bird and Wright have started 117 games together, the most of any Storm guards. (Bird and Betty Lennox started together 116 times.) They rank first (Bird, 1,780) and second (Wright, 627) on the Storm’s all-time assist leaderboard.