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.

Resign to run

Resign to run

I just read the article “Ahwatukee residents petition encourages ban on assault weapons” in the April 12 AFN.

The night of the shooting in Aurora, Colo., Ahwatukee Foothills mom and lawyer Ellen Davis had enough.

In a week when North Korea posted a homemade video showing the U.S. Capitol building being destroyed by a missile, what more logical response could Hollywood offer than a macho thriller about a Secret Service agent who takes on North Korean terrorists who attack the White House? The first of two similarly themed action dramas set for this year ("White House Down" arrives in June), "Olympus Has Fallen" will put to the test the question of whether American audiences are ready, 12 years after 9-11, to watch, strictly as disposable popcorn entertainment, a film in which the United States and some of its most prominent landmarks are devastated by foreign terrorists.

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

On Jan. 24, Sen. Diane Feinstein introduced her new bill, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. Here’s a link to her Senate page so you can read it for yourself: http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/assault-weapons.

What does “military style” mean? The specific make and model of firearm used by the military? Or the types of actions used in military firearms? Or the gun’s rate of fire? Are we going to define “military style” narrowly or broadly?

For many children, their first pet is a virtual one.

Head coaches never want to relinquish control.

Head coaches never want to relinquish control.

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.”

Thomas Jefferson

PHOENIX -- Arizonans may soon be able to hunt quieter.

Teachers who promote "partisan doctrine" in the classroom would be automatically fired and districts that allow it would lose state funding under the terms of legislation approved Wednesday by a Senate panel.

Teachers who promote "partisan doctrine" in the classroom would be automatically fired and districts that allow it would lose state funding under the terms of legislation approved Wednesday by a Senate panel.

State lawmakers launched a broad attack Wednesday against public unions, including an absolute ban on state and local governments and school districts from bargaining with organizations that represent public workers.

A year has passed. The outrage has subsided. The public outcry for change has faded. But the slain are still deceased; the wounded are still trying to recover and lives and families have been damaged forever.

A year has passed. The outrage has subsided. The public outcry for change has faded. But the slain are still deceased; the wounded are still trying to recover and lives and families have been damaged forever.

The Brewer administration on Wednesday withdrew from the Western Climate Initiative, ending several years of efforts by states and Canadian provinces to force a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Jan Brewer says Barack Obama was “condescending’’ to her in the lone face-to-face meeting the pair had over the issue of border security.

Delayed by a dead car battery, Karl and Rebecca Ready were still setting up their Chandler fireworks stand at noon on Friday, the tarp over their heads providing little refuge from the sweltering conditions.

Delayed by a dead car battery, Karl and Rebecca Ready were still setting up their Chandler fireworks stand at noon on Friday, the tarp over their heads providing little refuge from the sweltering conditions.

When it comes to camping close to home, Valley campers in the know have long pitched tents or parked RVs inside Maricopa County parks.