Director’s Choice: Ballet Arizona performs works by Alexei Ratmansky, Ib Andersen and a world premier by Alejandro Cerrudo of Chicago’s Hubbard Street Dance Company.

Short-term memory is a hard thing to expect over the course of a five-day tournament.

This weekend downtown Chandler will be piled high with more than 20,000 pounds of BBQ at the Great American Barbeque and Beer Festival. The roster of restaurants dishing up ribs, brisket, pulled pork and chicken includes old favorites Famous Dave’s, Honey Bear’s BBQ, Joe’s Real BBQ and Tom’s BBQ, along with some newcomers including Porkopolis.

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.

I am not a parent, which means that in addition to the many times I am envious of those who are, at times I am grateful not to be one.

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

You’ve got to love living in the place everyone else wants to be.

In recent years, there have been some really good Oscar hosts like Hugh Jackman, some acceptable hosts like John Stewart, some disappointing hosts like Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin, and some flat-out horrendous hosts like James Franco & Anne Hathaway. Despite the best efforts of some, none have come close to capturing the same wit, timing, and showmanship of reoccurring hosts like Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, or Billy Crystal. At the 85th Annual Academy Awards ceremony however, Seth MacFarlane of “Ted” and “Family Guy” emerged as the single most entertaining first-time Oscar host of the 21st century.

Soccer and ball players will soon find more fields around Mesa for a game, now that the city has begun work on projects approved by voters in November’s bond election.

The first time I saw the work of Mesa artist William Barnhart, I was smitten. When I learned he is also the man behind one of the most interesting buildings in the city — the eye-catching cinder-block and steel Quonset hut on Center Street just north of University Drive — I was over the moon.

It's a Saturday afternoon, and a multitude of fans – 25,000 total throughout a day defined by a peek-a-boo sun – meander underneath Chase Field's retractable roof for the annual D-Backs annual FanFest. The day is a prelude to the upcoming season – an opportunity for the Diamondback faithful to snag a few autographs, take a few cuts against a wiffleball-lobbing Wade Miley and, most importantly, bask in the glow of the lovely optimism that comes before the realities of a 162-game season commence.