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.

Ahwatukee Foothills resident Barbara Cude dreams about giving public speeches — or at least she did once.

Recently, my family had distant relatives visit from Germany. Over the years there have been many visits between us visiting Germany and them visiting the USA. They are a wonderful family and we thoroughly enjoyed the time together. Upon waking up one morning, my 4-year-old had already asked to visit Germany.

Brian Parson is surrounded by more likely candidates.

Area athletes will sign the dotted line for football, field hockey, soccer, track and field, cross country and water polo on Wednesday as the national signing day is here once again.

Since gaining notoriety among his peers by producing music videos for locally known hip-hop artists and rappers, Desert Vista High School senior Jake Osmun hopes to continue down a path that leans more toward film-making after graduation.

In his best-selling book “Outliers,” author Malcolm Gladwell examines the relationship between elite Canadian hockey players and the disproportionate likelihood of their birthdays coming in January, February or March.

In his best-selling book “Outliers,” author Malcolm Gladwell examines the relationship between elite Canadian hockey players and the disproportionate likelihood of their birthdays coming in January, February or March.

The Phoenix Pet Expo comes to the University of Phoenix Stadium, 1 Cardinals Drive in Glendale, Saturday, April 20 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Enjoy tons of exhibitors, prize giveaways, live entertainment, obedience demonstrations, author readings, book signings, discounted vaccinations, dozens of rescue groups, a mega-adoption event and so much fun for the two-legged and four-legged. Meet Shorty Rossi and Hercules from Animal Planets’ “Pit Boss.”

A lot of people like to make predictions on what is going to happen. Too few of us take responsibility for their successes and, yes, their failures. Here is what I forecast on December 23, 2011 followed by what actually happened and my report card:

A team of four Desert Vista High School students won first place at the Junior Achievement Student Stock Market Challenge in downtown Phoenix recently. Desert Vista juniors Jasmine Coro, Julia Hackett and Jared Bernat, along with senior Chris Kontos outperformed nearly 450 other Valley high school students at the Sheraton Phoenix Hotel in a fast-paced, interactive stock market simulation that included trades and data interpretation for 26 fictitious companies. It is the fifth consecutive year that a Desert Vista team won the championship. Coro, Hackett, Bernat and Kontos won by turning $500 start money into $1.8 million dollars, the highest net worth of any group. Business teacher Bernie O’Keefe led a Desert Vista contingent of 27 students who entered the annual competition.

It’s getting harder and harder for Carrie Underwood to leave home.

The Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center hosts the third annual Enchanted Trail/Sendero Encantado from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

‘Those Harry Potter fanatics actually want a made-up game to become an Olympic sport!”

‘Those Harry Potter fanatics actually want a made-up game to become an Olympic sport!”

Fred Barlam’s response to Jonathan Butcher’s guest commentary on education is just classic... classic elitist educator.

Andrew Snedecor has been to the epicenter of creativity and coolness for a 12-year-old boy: Todd McFarlane’s office.

I read Jonathan Butcher’s guest commentary on education, “An Abbott and Costello routine: Who’s on ...49th” in the AFN on June 25. I have also read other education commentaries by Butcher, the person who the Goldwater Institute touts as their education director.

When we left Matt LeBlanc last time on "Episodes," his life was a mess, and he dragged everyone else down with him.

When we left Matt LeBlanc last time on "Episodes," his life was a mess, and he dragged everyone else down with him.

The Summer Olympics begin in London at the end of July. I love watching athletes from all over the world gathered together in competition. The dedication and devotion it takes to get to the Olympics is astounding.