After 20 years, life-long runner and local coach David Allison returned to his alma mater recently to compete in the Penn Relays.

Horrible, the loss of three innocent lives in the Boston bombing. Then what word could one use to express the fact that between 158,000 and 202,000 civilians have died as a result of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan?

According to the majority of the media and most of our elected officials we are not supposed to judge all Muslims by the acts of a few “crazies.” But the acts of a few American “crazies” are enough to judge all Americans who own guns.

Finding good Mexican grub in this town is no problem; we could celebrate Cinco de Mayo once a week if pressed. But if you’re looking to do justice to this weekend’s other big almost-holiday, the Kentucky Derby, that’s a little more of a head scratcher. Here are three ways to indulge in the Southern spirit of the Run for the Roses, no big fancy hats required.

In the galaxy of big-screen superheros — a rather glum lot — Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man is the snappy one.

There are so many reasons for the Legislature to approve Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposal to expand Medicaid that it is hard for me to believe that any elected official would put ideology before the good of their constituents and the state of Arizona.

I did it. Even though it might make me the last person in Ahwatukee over the age of 9 to do so, I have a smartphone. It was not a case of desire; the screen on my “vintage” phone was so scratched I couldn’t see it, and it turned out I could get the smartphone and pay $10 less per month. I suspect the kid that sold it to me was like a seedy, back alley pusher — “come on, its even cheaper” — and that a smartphone is gateway technology.

Local entrepreneurs are in the final stages of getting their portable medical clinic repurposed from a steel shipping container sent to Kenya.

Phoenix Conservatory of Music received a three-year $120,000 grant to support its City Music Program from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. The Phoenix Conservatory of Music’s City Music Program is a free college preparatory program for grades 4-12.

When one thinks of the Holocaust film genre, dramas such as “Schindler’s List” and “The Pianist” instantly come to mind for their harrowing portrayals of victims and survivors who suffered at the hands of Nazis. But what about the German survivors – more specifically, the children of Nazi war criminals forced to come to terms with the atrocities of their parents? This is a question posed by the exceptional new German-language film, “Lore,” Cate Shortland’s follow-up to her acclaimed 2004 feature “Somersault.”

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.

It’s no wonder that Carter Gladstone has shown a tremendous ability to be patient at the plate.

The 98th annual Board of Visitors Charity ball took place on April 6 at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn in Paradise Valley.

Seven-year-old Ahwatukee Foothills resident Ava Loew has a need for speed.

Gun rights

Monday was the deadline for another column, and so right now I should be polishing up 500 words or so about why women do more housekeeping than men and bundling it off to the Ahwatukee Foothills News.

Their stories are nowhere near as harrowing.

Gov. Jan Brewer said Tuesday that enhanced security is being put in place for this weekend's Pat Tillman run in the wake of the bombings in Boston.

Local running coach Susan Loken said there were several Ahwatukee Foothills residents competing in the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Joseph Ortiz, Ahwatukee financial advisor with Edward Jones, invites the community to join him for monthly workshops on timely economic issues or concerns. Ortiz said he will be bringing in certain guest speakers throughout the year to speak about issues relating to engineering, manufacturing, housing and the auto industry.

The worn boxing gloves and yellowed punching bags tell only part of the story.