Recently, I had a meaningful and slightly curious experience.

The Mountain Pointe baseball program is taking the lead in trying get some relief to those in need in Oklahoma after the recent tornado disaster.

The Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits (Alliance) and Arizona Grantmakers Forum (AGF) awarded $179,500 in prizes to 40 nonprofits who participated in Arizona Gives Day at a reception on May 2.

Are you interested in cutting costs and saving money?

The city of Phoenix is looking for more residents to sign up for a pilot program that will help keep less green organic materials out of landfills and could save the city money.

Recently, I’ve had many cases involving dogs that have extremely high prey drives. Dogs have a natural instinct for hunting prey. Smell and motion of other animals will instantly attract a dog to their instinctive prey drive. Of course, with domesticated dogs, we feed them so they don’t have to hunt. To ensure your dog views your family cat as a “pack member” and NOT a “pack prey-toy,” follow the below simple tips:

5943 E. McKellips Road, Suite 106

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

Salvador “Grandpa” Bernabe has been named volunteer of the year by Catholic Charities Community Services. He was presented with the 2013 Helen Shea Service Award at the agency’s Paths to Hope breakfast on May 15 at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix.

Though she’s going to miss seeing her students grow in their love of books, Kyrene Monte Vista Elementary librarian Sue Race said it’s time for her to move on.

Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) welcomed two individuals to its administrative team: Matthew Graber, director of marketing, and Zacory Boatright, director of sales and business development.

It probably doesn’t show up on your calendar, but May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month. And you might agree that such a month is useful, when you consider the following:

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.

It’s been eight months since I had the great opportunity to join the Ahwatukee Foothills News. Since that time we have not made radical changes to the paper or wild editorial changes to the product. What I wanted to do was listen to our readers and take note of any changes that would aid this great community.

Learning about the difference between wants and needs, students within the Kyrene School District learned the basics of finance and saving in a program through Bank of America.

I am writing to express my sincere gratitude to the women of Mesa Arizona Hermosa Vista Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My Sisters’ Place recently received 60 beautiful handbags filled with an assortment of makeup, jewelry, lotion, perfume and notes filled with love and encouragement for the women in our shelter.

The Phoenix City Council will vote on the final draft of the city’s 2013-14 budget, which includes new efficiencies in the city’s public information office, parks and public transit, on May 21 but Councilman Sal DiCiccio says the city could have increased even more services if staff didn’t get any raises or bonuses.

With the onslaught of Oscar contenders that debuted last November, there’s a good chance that a little-seen indie gem, “Starlet,” managed to fall off your radar during its short, theatrical run. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 SXSW film festival, “Starlet” explores the unlikely friendship between a cheerful, aspiring actress (played by the winsome Dree Hemingway) and a cantankerous, elderly widow (the late Besedka Johnson).

Ahwatukee Foothills resident Kristy Nied Jozwiak said it was like something out of a movie when her landscaper was attacked by Africanized bees in her backyard.

As thick dark clouds rolled in over Chaparral High School and a light drizzle started to fall, it seemed like Mother Nature stole some of Desert Vista’s thunder.

It’s not often art lovers get to see a work in progress let alone contribute to it, but Arizona Opera gives fans the opportunity to do just that this weekend when they present the first reading of “Riders of the Purple Sage” — an original opera based on Zane Grey’s western novel, set on the Arizona-Utah border.

Positive Coaching Alliance has announced the official kick off of its new Phoenix Chapter. Established in 1998, Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) is a national nonprofit organization providing all youth and high school athletes a positive, character-building youth sports experience.

The people of "Peeples" make a better impression than most collections of oddballs in the weary mold of comedies centered on meeting the prospective in-laws.

I’m sure by now you’ve heard that we have a short supply of homes to sell. As I have been saying, this shortage is pushing up the price of homes that do go onto the market.

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.