The Food and Drug Administration will now allow women age 15 and older to buy the emergency contraceptive Plan B over the counter. Unfortunately, there is no “Plan B” for dogs and cats who find themselves in trouble — and that’s why it’s vital to have them spayed or neutered as soon as possible.

Chamberlain College of Nursing announced the appointment of Dr. Pamela Fuller, of Ahwatukee, as president of its Phoenix campus. Fuller succeeds Dr. Kimberly LaMar, who has served as the Phoenix campus president since 2009 and now becomes senior director of campus operations at Chamberlain.

Did you catch The Rev. Jesse Jackson the other night on CNN demanding a Senate hearing into why regulators never cracked down on that gruesome abortion clinic in Philadelphia?

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.

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

Back by popular demand, the Harlem Globetrotters will be in the Valley in the beginning of June for their “Summer Skills Clinic,” where they will coach, motivate and entertain kids ages 6 through 12. Kids of all basketball levels are encouraged to participate.

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

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

When Arizona voters approved the use of medical marijuana in 2010, Steve Cottrell saw a way to combine his laboratory background and his interest in the plant he’d been studying since his 11-year-old son died of cancer more than a decade before.

Pet rescue groups across the Valley are coming together with a three-year initiative to solve the problem of pet homelessness by fixing, adopting and saving Valley pets.

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.

In my 55-plus years as a native of Arizona, our state has always been pragmatically independent and conservative. Only lately has the pragmatism been replaced by dogmatic ideology. This ideology has become more hostile and prominent recently and unfortunately was brought to the forefront immediately before the Holy Days leading up to Easter. It is unfortunate that the vitriolic speak that Maricopa County GOP Chairman Mr. LaFaro chose when speaking at a legislative committee was to compare our governor with Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. It is my opinion that supporting Medicaid expansion to 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level does not amount to equating Gov. Brewer to Judas.

The media loosely throws around the word “sociopath.” Many people don’t understand what being a sociopath means. But, if recent studies are correct, 1 in 25 people are considered to be sociopathic. That tells us that most of us will meet several sociopaths in our lifetime. The goal is meet them, work with them, pray with them, but do not get into a relationship with them. Attempting to have a relationship with an emotionally unavailable person will ultimately be psychologically destructive.

Arizona Bridge to Independent Living and the MaxInMotion Foundation are pleased to announce the development of a series of adaptive sports clinics for youth in Arizona. The half-day clinics will introduce children 18 years and under to wheelchair basketball and power soccer for athletes with disabilities.

Local animal shelters have enough camps to keep any animal lover engaged and learning this summer.

One of the most novel events of the spring? Arizona Polo Club’s Picnic and Polo Clinic.

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Desert Vista High School’s dancers invite young dancers to have fun while learning dance techniques at the Spring Dance Clinic on Saturday, March 23 from 1 to 4 p.m. Walk-in registration and pre-registration check-in begins at 12:30 p.m. The dance clinic is open to all students in grades Pre-K through eighth grade.

Sorry, but Nancy Pelosi is wrong. We do have a spending problem and the heart of the matter is our inability to control medical costs. Spending on health care now consumes an astonishing 18 percent of our total economic output. Rising Medicare and Medicaid costs are the main drivers of our national debt crisis. Yet health care costs continue to shoot up relentlessly.

Eagle Scout and Mountain Pointe High School junior Jacob Rak-Kinonen, along with Chandler MMA owner Master Paul McGowan, hosted a women’s self defense clinic on Feb. 10 as a fundraiser called “Helping women be prepared” for local Boy Scout Troop 1/A212.

I want to offer some points augmenting Bill Richardson’s demolition of gun restrictions (“Banning assault weapons will make us safer, AFN, Feb. 20).

It may not be a question of knowing whether Beethoven is better for you than the Beastie Boys.

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