Phoenix is great because of our strong communities where neighbors work together and take pride in the place they call home.

Senate Republicans are proposing a nearly $8.8 billion spending plan for the coming year, a tiny -- 1.6 percent -- hike over current levels.

It’s been eight months since I had the great opportunity to join the Ahwatukee Foothills News. Since that time we have not made radical changes to the paper or wild editorial changes to the product. What I wanted to do was listen to our readers and take note of any changes that would aid this great community.

Another school year is drawing to a close — so if you have young children, they’re one year closer to the day when they head off to college. And both you and your children need to prepare for that day. Your kids can do so by developing good study habits. As for you, it’s never too soon to start preparing for the high costs of higher education.

Saying she's run out of patience, Gov. Jan Brewer will veto any bills sent to her until she sees movement on a new state budget and her pet Medicaid expansion project.

Gov. Jan Brewer has cleared one hurdle for new research on the possible medical benefits of marijuana.

Dear Mikey,

Any chance of cities or counties conducting future gun-buyback programs is about to evaporate.

Bethany Christian School (BCS) in Tempe, students and families participated in an Outreach Project to help and support homeless children from Children’s First Academy.

Chandler Regional Medical Center’s Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Oxygen Center was recently recognized with the Center of Distinction Award.

Despite the bad rap that saturated fats have, there’s a lot of evidence indicating that saturated fat is essentially good for you. The real harmful and unhealthy fats include trans fats, hydrogenated fats and vegetable oils.

Alexandra Soto of Desert Vista High School has been named the recipient of the USDA/NIFA A-UBET Scholarship.

Out on the grass between classroom buildings and the baseball field at Kyrene Centennial Middle School, a group of 7th graders were measuring indoor temperatures of their model homes for an urban heat island project last week.

Chandler Regional Medical Center’s Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Oxygen Center was recently recognized with the Center of Distinction Award.

Alexandra Soto of Desert Vista High School has been named the recipient of the USDA/NIFA A-UBET Scholarship.

It’s all about community.

"Mud" has the feel of a classic, although it's perhaps not enthralling enough to be one. The third and most elaborate feature to date from writer-director Jeff Nichols seems to have been adapted from a novel that doesn't exist -- something by James Lee Burke, perhaps, or Cormac McCarthy, or some other specialist in frequently violent tales about the challenges to masculinity and the forging of new identities that face rural people who belong to a sprawling modern world -- who might be hanging out in a supermarket parking lot one moment and falling into a creek full of deadly cottonmouths the next.

In the wake of last week’s tragedy in Boston, what are the images that stayed with you? The pillowing smoke? Blood on the streets? Shell-shocked victims in wheelchairs? Our hearts have been broken again. And since the footage is shown over and over, we’re traumatized each time, just like when the twin towers burned on 9/11.

More than 55 million people in the United States are currently experiencing some degree of hearing loss. According to the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing (ACDHH), there are more than 700,000 people in Arizona who are hard of hearing, but not everyone realizes there is something that can be done prevent further loss.

The number of children being taken into Child Protective Services’ custody continues to escalate each year in Arizona, but the minors are not the only concern. After age 18, college-bound individuals who were essentially raised in the system still need the support — like any young adult — to have a successful future.

Gun rights

Conceding their lobbying arguments are inconsistent with those in court, state prosecutors have given up in their bid to regulate how products with marijuana are labeled.

Three high school students submitted three big ideas to the Ahwatukee Chamber Charity Foundation with hopes of being selected for a brand new college scholarship. On Wednesday the foundation presented a $4,000 scholarship to Spencer Elliott of Mountain Pointe High School, and a $500 scholarship to Josh Greene and Emily Pawlik, both Desert Vista students.

Saying there are technical problems with the proposal, Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed legislation Friday which would have allowed individuals to shop around for the best price on health care needs.

Lottery confidentiality