Arizona

Paolo Soleri, an Italian-born architect who created a visionary prototype for a new kind of ecologically sensitive city in the remote Arizona desert four decades ago, only to watch the suburban sprawl he detested begin to creep near it in recent years, has died. He was 93. Soleri died of natural causes Tuesday at his home in Paradise Valley, Ariz., according to an official with the architect's foundation . PHOTOS: Paolo Soleri | 1919-2013 A onetime apprentice at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West compound on the edge of Scottsdale, Ariz., Soleri founded his own desert settlement, called Arcosanti, in 1970 at a site roughly 70 miles north of downtown Phoenix.

To your grocery list, add electricity. Kroger Co., the country's largest grocery store owner, with chains including Ralphs and Food 4 Less, plans to install a total of 225 vehicle charging stations at 125 supermarkets in California and Arizona. San Francisco-based Ecotality Inc., which operates the nation's second-largest network of public electric charging stations for vehicles, announced Monday that it would handle the installation. Kroger, based in Cincinnati, said it would invest about $1.5 million to install Ecotality's Blink charging stations and DC Fast Chargers.

A small artist settlement in southern Arizona became the conservative state's first city to allow civil unions between same-sex couples, voting in a new ordinance and defying a threat from Atty. Gen. Tom Horne, who promised to take legal action if the measure passed. Late Tuesday night, City Council members voted 5-2 to allow what gay marriage supporters see as the next best thing, adding a section to its city charter that clears the way for civil unions in their town of about 5,600 residents.

After four decades in prison for an Arizona mass murder he has always vehemently insisted he did not commit, Louis Taylor will sometime Tuesday walk out of the shadow of confinement -- a free man. Now 59, he was convicted in 1970 in connection with a Tucson hotel fire that killed 29 people. Taylor was 16 when he went to jail, sentenced to 28 consecutive life sentences. Now that crime and all that time will soon be in his past. He pleaded no-contest to the charges in a Tucson court, allowing the wheels of justice to move toward his freedom.

A year after Denver made a huge splash by signing Peyton Manning, smaller yet significant quarterback moves have rippled west. Oakland, San Francisco and Seattle either acquired or dealt noteworthy passers Monday, and Arizona could be next to tweak its roster. All the jostling could have an effect on how early the top college quarterbacks will be selected in this month's draft. The Raiders traded for Seattle's Matt Flynn, sending the Seahawks two future draft picks for the quarterback who backed up rookie sensation Russell Wilson last season.

For some criminal defense attorneys and journalists, the quest to find and exonerate an inmate wrongly convicted of murder is the white whale of their profession - endlessly pursued with a passion that borders on zeal. In his deeply reported and briskly written new book, "Manifest Injustice: The True Story of a Convicted Murderer and the Lawyers Who Fought for His Freedom," Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist-author Barry Siegel tells of one such quest that stretched over a decade. If it were simply a story of virtue's triumph over adversity, "Manifest Injustice" would be both important and highly readable.

It's counterintuitive, but Ohio State's small lineup paid big dividends on the boards Thursday. Ohio State defeated Arizona, 73-70, at Staples Center and advances to the West Regional final on Saturday. The Buckeyes out-rebounded the Wildcats, 32-30, and 11-9 on the offensive end, something that wasn't expected. Kaleb Tarczewski , Arizona's 7-foot freshman center, played just 16 minutes, far less than the other four starters. By putting smaller, quicker players on the floor, Ohio State forced Arizona to follow suit.

STARTERS OHIO STATE; HT.; WT.; Stats; P; ARIZONA; HT.; WT.; Stats Deshaun Thomas, 6-7; 225; 19.7 ppg; F; Solomon Hill; 6-7; 220; 13.3 ppg Sam Thompson; 6-7; 190; 7.8 ppg; F; Kevin Parrom; 6-6; 220; 8.3 ppg Amir Williams; 6-11; 250; 3.9 rpg; C; Kaleb Tarczewski; 7-0; 255; 6.2 rpg Aaron Craft; 6-2; 190; 10.0 ppg; G; Mark Lyons; 6-1; 200; 15.4 ppg Lenzelle Smith Jr.; 6-4; 205; 9.4 ppg; G; Nick Johnson; 6-3; 200; 11.6 ppg ...

A day before LaQuinton Ross leaped, splayed his legs and downed Arizona with a decisive three-pointer Thursday, the 6-foot-8 Ohio State forward randomly won the locker-room lottery. He walked into the Lakers' locker room at Staples Center - his team's temporary digs in the NCAA tournament - and staked a claim to a corner locker that normally belongs to another clutch shooter. "I found out from one of the guys who worked here it was Kobe Bryant's locker," Ross said after the Buckeyes' 73-70 victory.

He not only made the winning pass, he ordered the winning basket. That is how Aaron Craft rolls, either into your heart or under your skin, his tiny hands rummaging deep into the pockets of March, his rosy cheeks squarely in America's face. With two seconds remaining in a deadlocked, chaotic NCAA West Regional semifinal at Staples Center on Thursday night, Ohio State guard Craft flipped the ball to open teammate LaQuinton Ross with instructions. "Knock it down!" he shouted above the roar, just before Ross launched a three-point shot whose swish gave the Buckeyes a 73-70 victory over Arizona.