Students ambassadors from the Everest College Phoenix Mesa campus hopped to help the Easter bunny this year by providing more than 100 Easter baskets for children at Cardon Children’s Medical Center. This marks the fourth year in a row that the Everest College Phoenix Mesa campus has helped to give the children at the medical center a surprise on Easter morning.

Interest in the annual Festival of Lights Golf Tournament has dwindled in recent years and when the co-chairs of the event moved to Gilbert it was unclear who would take over, but Ahwatukee Kiwanis stepped up and is hoping to make the tournament more successful than ever.

The Heady Hoop Tribe, an eclectic group of four women who aim to inspire others through the creative power of modern hoop dance, bring a sense of community to Phoenix.

Foothills Pet Resort

Homeowners associations are tasked with the unenviable responsibility of maintaining community standards. Personal property appearances, landscape maintenance and dog refuse in common areas fall within their purview; apparently so do banners advertising local businesses.

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 Only lately has the pragmatism been replaced by dogmatic ideology.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.

Lily, a 3-year-old Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix, was rescued recently from the e-list. Lily loves going for short walks and gets really excited when she sees her leash by spinning in circles.

In case you missed it, today is César Chávez Day.