As of the day I am writing this there are 130 active rental listings on the MLS in Ahwatukee and 416 have been rented in the past six months.

The Department of Administration reports Arizona’s jobless rate last month was 7.9 percent. That’s the third straight month at that level.

So President Obama wants to end so-called “tax loopholes” for American oil and gas companies? Sounds like a good idea, until you learn that what the President is really asking. The “Close the Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act” essentially asks American taxpayers and businesses to shoulder the economic brunt of the administration’s ambitious green energy objectives.

Ernie Henson

Q: What type of business services or products do you provide?

I am tired of reading articles denigrating public worker pensions. Let’s get one thing straight; teachers, policemen, firefighters and municipal workers did not crash the economy. It was crashed by unregulated banks and financial institutions with the blessings of Congress, who were later rewarded with bailouts while middle-class Americans bore the brunt.

Madison Avenue Salon and Day Spa has opened its fourth location in the Valley, bringing a full-service salon and day spa to Gilbert at 81 S. McQueen Road. It has a location in Ahwatukee.

Ken Goodrich of Phoenix Peach LLC, announced the company has an immediate need to hire more than 30 skilled employees in Phoenix to fill vacancies with its newly launched brands Goettl Good Guys Air Conditioning Repairmen and The Sunny Plumber. Both brands plan to expand their workforce over the next several years, adding more than 100 jobs to Arizona’s recovering economy.

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.

Arizona’s economic recovery is flattening out statewide, with job growth outside the Phoenix metro area for this year and next predicted to be anemic.

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?”

Arizona's economic recovery is flattening out statewide, with job growth outside the Phoenix metro area for this year and next predicted to be anemic.

A survey shows U.S. home prices rose 10.5 percent in March compared with a year ago, the biggest gain since March 2006.

No one can deny the Great Recession left a permanent mark on our nation and its economy. But what effect did it have on the American Dream of home ownership? That’s the question we set out to answer by asking Phoenix-based Benchmark Research Technologies to survey nearly 1,700 Arizona new home shoppers about their attitudes surrounding home ownership in the post-recession era.

The persistence and determination I have shown in the past four years is about reform and getting us ready for the new world we live in. There is a bigger reason why I have been pushing so hard for change. It’s about getting Phoenix ready to compete in a global economy. If the council repeals the food tax it will be added to a long list of reforms we accomplished. There were three significant reforms toward the goal of getting us ready to compete in this new world market and getting government to operate more like your household

Comprehensive Property Inspections

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.

With graduation just around the corner, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton emphasized the importance of college and answered questions about city issues as he spoke to a classroom of seniors on Wednesday at Mountain Pointe High School.

It's not a big breakthrough.

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.

Five artists and artist teams have created six new works of public art for the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport’s PHX SkyTrain stations and connector bridges. The large-scale works include terrazzo floors, glass murals and a sculptural ceiling installation.

Centennials are normally cause for celebration, a chance to applaud some thing or person standing the test of time. But not so for the income tax. Even the IRS is declining to mention that this year is the 100-year anniversary of the 16th Amendment of the Constitution, which authorized the tax.

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.

You’re probably accustomed to measuring the progress of your investments, and the overall condition of the investment world, by checking on indexes such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500. And since these types of benchmarks focus almost exclusively on American companies, you might get the idea that the best investments are located right here in the United States. But that impression would be false — because there is, literally, a world of investment opportunities beyond the U.S. borders.