Selling your first home in a buyers’ market? You can get the best possible price if you know how to negotiate.

Two old friends paid me a visit last week. The first slipped in without a word, freezing my mind for an instant, like the shock of ice cream gulped down too eagerly on a hot day. As we visited for a while, I noticed the familiar voice is edged with a steely insistence, somehow sharpened rather than blunted by a hunger for news of trouble, and the scent of brewing chaos. By God’s grace and through His perfect timing, there, just in nick of time, was another beloved friend knocking on the door of my heart, gently enfolding me in loving arms. This beloved voice speaks quietly, yet perfectly clearly, sharing a different story, at once both old and fresh. The voice carries words brimming with abundant life, like a lush oasis in an otherwise barren and hostile desert. Such is the power of moments of fear to paralyze our senses, and to leave us feeling isolated and lost. Such is the power of the unparalleled peace found through our faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in the comforting words of Scripture.

Chandler Regional received the Partner for Change award by Practice Greenhealth, an industry leader and nonprofit organization that recognizes health care facilities for going above and beyond in keeping and maintaining a “green” workplace.

The Memory Assistance and Planning Session (MAPS) will overview the changes caregivers can expect during the moderate to advanced stages of dementia in a workshop this Friday, May 24.

A $70,000 grant from the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services will enhance Hospice of the Valley’s care for patients who are military veterans.

The fight to expand Medicaid in Arizona continues as Gov. Brewer pushes the Legislature to pursue legislation to expand coverage to include folks up to 133 percent of poverty guidelines.

The Ahwatukee Community Network (ACN) is bringing passionate people together again, this time on the topic of children in foster care.

Karlene Keogh Parks said she’s running for Phoenix City Council in part because she’s tired of seeing city employees treated badly by City Councilman Sal DiCiccio.

What do United States Congressman David Schweikert, State Senate Majority Leader John McComish, Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCicco, Kedrick Ellison of the Phoenix Community and Economic Development Department, Kyrene Superintendent Dr. David Shauer, Tempe Union High School Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Baca, and Pangea Development have in common?

5943 E. McKellips Road, Suite 106

1331 E. Chandler Blvd.

The 2013 legislative session began with a unanimous vote in the House and the Senate to appropriate emergency funding for additional Child Protective Services staff. With that vote, lawmakers affirmed child safety as a top priority.

Mini and Smokey are a bonded pair of 12-year-old pure bred Pomeranians who were surrendered by their owners who could no longer care for them. Mini is a very outgoing girl who likes to play with toys and do twirls and jump into your arms. Smokey is more reserved and timid and depends on Mini for everything. He follows her wherever she goes, lays where she lays and really needs her. Smokey has alopecia, a skin condition that is common for Poms which causes them to lose their hair, but otherwise he is healthy. Both babies are snuggle bunnies and love to be held. Both are kennel and leash trained. Even though they are approximately 12 they do not act their age. They MUST go to the same home.

The Phoenix Fire Department is giving the community a chance to get to know local firefighters by hosting an open house at four fire stations this Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, including Ahwatukee Foothills Fire Station No. 43, 4110 E. Chandler Blvd.

Though she’s going to miss seeing her students grow in their love of books, Kyrene Monte Vista Elementary librarian Sue Race said it’s time for her to move on.

Using their talents for hilarious, family-friendly improvisational comedy, Jef and Shurlin Rawls of Mesa hope to lift spirits while lightening the load for a family in their neighborhood with an event they are calling a “FUN-draiser.”

A lacrosse stick is a simple piece of equipment: a metal pole, a plastic head and some coarse netting.

Calling the governor's proposal unacceptable and politically dead at the Legislature, House Speaker Andy Tobin unveiled his own new plan Tuesday to expand Medicaid, one that would give Arizona voters the final say.

They aren't close to going home.

I am writing to express my sincere gratitude to the women of Mesa Arizona Hermosa Vista Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My Sisters’ Place recently received 60 beautiful handbags filled with an assortment of makeup, jewelry, lotion, perfume and notes filled with love and encouragement for the women in our shelter.

The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department will ban open fires in city mountain and desert preserves effective Monday, May 13. In consultation with the Phoenix Fire Department, smoking and charcoal fires are included in the ban due to the extreme fire danger that the combination of low humidity, increasing temperatures and frequent high winds creates each spring. Additional information on the ban is available online at phoenix.gov/parks.

Our family bought a sofa a couple of years ago. It was a frustrating experience. I won’t go into it other than to say when my wife and I finally agreed on one, I thought a burden had been lifted. Then the salesman forces another decision: “So which protection plan do you want?”

A zoning adjustment hearing to discuss allowing a medical marijuana dispensary to go into a location at 48th Street and Warner Road was postponed due to an application error.

Joss Bates was dropped off at his Ahwatukee home last weekend to find 114 notes hanging around his front yard, displaying quotes, words of comfort, love and encouragement written on them from friends and family.