His acceptance speech was easily the most brief, but the thoughts shared Friday night by United Food Bank President and CEO Bob Evans were certainly among the most poignant.

Arizona State will play its home baseball games at Phoenix Municipal Stadium beginning in 2015.

With only a partial City Council on hand, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith ultimately pulled an agenda item on a proposed Marriott Springhill Suites Hotel — slated for the “Wrigleyville” area between the news Cubs’ baseball stadium and park at Riverview — from the council’s meeting during its study session Monday night.

Is the water supply in the Valley sustainable for the near future? What about for the next 1,000 years? These are just a few of the questions asked in Chandler Museum’s new exhibit, “Choosing a Future with Water: Lessons from the Hohokam.”

More than 1.7 million fans helped the Cactus League set a new attendance record with the 2013 spring training season that ended Saturday in Arizona.

Nearly 10,500 fans gathered to bid a farewell to the 2013 Major League Baseball Spring Training season Thursday afternoon.

It’s currently reminiscent of the ruins of the Colosseum in Rome. But when the Chicago Cubs’ new spring training stadium and surrounding amenities are complete, there’s little doubt it will be among Mesa’s main attractions.

Now that the Chicago Cubs have secured a spring-training home in Mesa well into the future, the East Valley will soon welcome to the area the first of possibly many in a long line of Windy City favorites: Portillo’s Hot Dogs.

The official transition for the renaming of Mesa’s Eighth Street to Rio Salado Parkway began this week, when dual-named street signs were installed along the road between Country Club Drive and the Loop 101 freeway.

It’s been more than 35 years since the Oakland A’s made a change in its spring training itinerary, leaving Mesa for Scottsdale, before settling in on the Phoenix-Tempe border.

Mesa’s Youth Sports League is partnering with the Chicago Cubs and hosting a free pitch, hit and run competition on 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Hohokam Stadium, 1235 N. Center St. Boys and girls, ages 7 to 14, can compete in pitching accuracy, hitting distance and quickness on the base. Winners in each division will receive two tickets to the Saturday game against the Cleveland Indians.

Mesa City Council could finalize a plan to bring the Oakland A's to Hohokam Stadium for spring training during its meeting Monday.

Higher education programs around Mesa will take part in a celebration next week to let the public know what they have available.