Valley Fever among Arizonans continues to run high, according to the state Department of Health Services.

If people vote with their feet, then at least a few people last year saw Arizona as a land of opportunity.

Can 24 minutes of bad football erase what the Mountain Pointe built in the first half of the season?

No one likes a dirty Fish Bowl.

No one likes a dirty Fish Bowl.

You can’t really blame local TV weather forecasters for playing up the Arizona monsoon.

Are you ready?

The Valley has experienced three large dust storms in the last eight weeks, and there's a chance we will see a few more before the official end of the monsoon on Sept. 30.

The first big dust storm on July 5 that took everyone by surprise and made national news also claimed a panel on the main sign at the entrance to Mountain Pointe High School. The lighting and the back panel were removed afterward for safety reasons.

During a recent trip to Nashville, Tenn., sometime between watching "American Idol" runner-up Melinda Dolittle headline at a free concert in Centennial Park and walking down the streets of "Nashvegas" with radio-quality live music emanating from every honkeytonk nook and cranny, I couldn't stop myself from making a rather unfair comparison:

During a recent trip to Nashville, Tenn., sometime between watching "American Idol" runner-up Melinda Dolittle headline at a free concert in Centennial Park and walking down the streets of "Nashvegas" with radio-quality live music emanating from every honkeytonk nook and cranny, I couldn't stop myself from making a rather unfair comparison:

Jerry Brown

As much as I hate to admit it, I don't have a green thumb. I love plants and always try my best, but I somehow manage to eventually destroy them. A friend once gave me a painted wooden cactus in a pot and said, "Here, you can't kill this." Umm, she was wrong.

As much as I hate to admit it, I don't have a green thumb. I love plants and always try my best, but I somehow manage to eventually destroy them. A friend once gave me a painted wooden cactus in a pot and said, "Here, you can't kill this." Umm, she was wrong.

A Sun City West physician said he believes the Phoenix area could see a sizable outbreak in valley fever cases stemming from Tuesday night’s haboob that sent dust spores airborne for hundreds of miles across Arizona — and possibly beyond.

Huge Fast Moving Monsoon (Haboob) Dust Storm that turns daylight into total darkness in less then 60 seconds. Taken from my back yard in Mesa Arizona.

It takes just 2 1/2 minutes and costs as little as five dollars; it’s not surprising the Hog Wash Express has dusty car after filthy truck after dirt-caked van file through the car wash following Tuesday’s haboob.

Massive dust storm hits the Phoenix Arizona and Gilbert Arizona areas on July 5th, 2011. HD video footage of the Phoenix, Arizona 2011 Dust Storm Haboob. I scrambled outside very quickly, completely caught off guard by this dust storm so please do not expect any good commentary as it was shot on the fly. lol But I do hope you like the footage! There was tons of dust being thrown through the air, so breathing was quite difficult and the winds began to pick up as the dust storm progressed. keywords: phoenix arizona dust storm 2011 july 5th 5 independence day dust storm haboob thunderstorm storms rain winds damage damaging tornadoes severe weather windy rainy dust cloud lightning 4th disaster flood