Mother-daughter team Stephanie and Carley Barton spent the Saturday before Mother’s Day together at the salon, but the duo wasn’t there just to be pampered. They’ve both been growing their hair out for years to be donated to Locks of Love.

In the interest of serving you, our loyal reader – and Ahwatukee resident – better, the Ahwatukee Foothills News is asking for your help!

Travelers accustomed to chain eateries like Chili’s and Paradise Bakery now have a chance to experience local offerings such as Cowboy Ciao, La Grande Orange and Barrio Cafe at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

It’s no secret to Realtors that fabulous kitchens sell homes. Improve the room used primarily for food preparation, and the entire house will feel homier to residents, guests and prospective buyers alike.

“Hi, Mike? I am so glad I got a hold of you. My computer is running so slowly that I turn it on, make coffee, take the dog for a walk, and bake a few dozen cookies then maybe; just maybe the website will be fully loaded. This computer is running terrible! Can you help?”

Web-hosting giant Go Daddy announced Tuesday it will be expanding its operations in Arizona, adding 300 employees.

Practicing what we have been preaching about the need to shop locally, the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce is partnering with a local business on our annual print Resource Guide and Directory. The Chamber’s 2013-14 Directory will be marketed, designed and produced through an agreement with the Ahwatukee Foothills News (AFN), the publisher of this newspaper and a chamber member. We believe this will be a valuable partnership for all chamber members and those who take advantage of this opportunity to get their message out to the public.

OB Sports Golf Management announced summer stay-and-play packages for Scottsdale and Sedona, Ariz., and Las Vegas. The offerings include a number of ready-made packages, and golfers may customize any package and book online at www.obsportsgolfvacations.com. Or, for personalized reservation assistance, they may contact Denise Crawford at (866) 561-4653 or dcrawford@obsports.com.

Wednesday, May 1 is Customer Appreciation Day at Joe’s Real BBQ in Gilbert. Anyone who shows up between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and then from 4 p.m. through the rest of the evening — until they run out of food — will get a free BBQ sandwich made from pecan-smoked meats like chicken breast, pulled pork and beef brisket and pit ham; a free side, like sweet cut corn, potato salad, mac and cheese or BBQ pit beans; and a free drink.

On Sunday, the popular PBS restaurant review show, “Check, Please! Arizona,” hosts its first food festival at CityScape in Phoenix. While attendees enjoy a plethora of food and wine samples and live demonstrations from award-winning chefs like Robert McGrath and Chris Bianco, one humble festival booth — Pittsburgh Willy’s Gourmet Hot Dogs — takes the next step in its Cinderella story.

As many students are training for football, baseball, hockey, soccer, and other sports, this is also the time of year for sports-related injuries. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), sports-related dental injuries send approximately 600,000 youths to the emergency room each year involving children as young as 5 years old. Prevention is a large aspect of oral health. Oral health prevention includes the prevention of injury to the mouth, teeth, neck, and jaws. In an attempt to promote awareness of facial injury prevention, five organizations have sponsored April as being the National Facial Protection Month: American Dental Association (ADA), American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and the Academy for Sports Dentistry. Contact sports such as football, hockey, and basketball are common sources of oral injury; however, other sports such as gymnastics and volleyball pose a threat as well. Common head and neck injuries can include concussions, fractured teeth, oral lacerations, jaw joint sprains, and neck injuries.

Summer is coming, but all our dogs still need exercise. Here are some tips on how to beat the heat with your dog.

I would like to respond to a recent guest column, “SRP needs to provide vision and advance energy efficiency,” which appeared in this newspaper (March 29). The author makes inaccurate assertions regarding the ability of customers and stakeholders to provide meaningful input to SRP’s resource plan and more generally questions our commitment to sustainable resources.

Dr. Stuart Hetrick never planned to open New Image Med Spa in Ahwatukee Foothills.

A-Peeling Faces Skincare and Massage Therapy is celebrating seven years in business this month. The company has won/placed Best of Ahwatukee four of those years and Darla M. Salem, owner, has been nominated for the Palo Verde Women in Business award two of those years.

Arizona firms are on the verge of getting new secrecy protections for the internal reviews they do of their health and safety practices.

Gun rights

In the interest of serving you, our loyal reader – and Ahwatukee resident – better, the Ahwatukee Foothills News is asking for your help!

OB Sports Golf Management announced new summer stay-and-play packages for Scottsdale and Sedona, Arizona and Las Vegas.

During a recent home remodel, Diane Wright decided the stairway leading to her garage needed some perking up.

Regular spraying of your home and some professional advice could save homeowners a lot of trouble this year as experts are predicting crickets, scorpions and ants to be a big problem this spring.

When the new Phoenix Premium Outlets opened last week it was flooded with eager shoppers, but many of those shoppers were confused when they saw the taxes applied to their purchases.

Procrastinators can get free last-minute help filing their taxes at four Phoenix Public Library locations from 6 p.m. to midnight on Monday, April 15.

If you’ve been putting off pampering to pinch pennies, it’s time to gleefully smash that piggy bank to smithereens.