Thanks to everyone who came out and supported the Desert Vista High School band car wash at Sonic on April 20, they raised more than $750 to donate to the music program at Bay Head school in New Jersey that was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Anyone who would like to make additional contributions can contact the band boosters at dvmb.fundraising@gmail.com.

The Mountain Pointe duo of Natrell Curtis and Jalen Brown keep getting national attention.

They brought folk back to mainstream radio long before The Lumineers and Of Monsters And Men hit it big, with blissful, down-home tunes popping up in jaunty car commercials and adorable father-daughter YouTube covers. This weekend, you can find the 10-piece Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival in Phoenix, where they’ll be rubbing shoulders with the likes of The Shins, Dr. Dog and The Roots.

Step one of 74 to prepare for the 37th Annual Ahwatukee Easter Parade began the week after Christmas when parade boss Mike Schmitt asked the Kiwanis Club of Ahwatukee if they wanted once more to sponsor the parade.

Feeling like you should do something for St. Patrick’s Day but missed Saturday’s downtown parade or don’t fancy a drive all the way to Fountain Hills for a spray of green water?

It’s no surprise that Chelsea Bain has been attending NASCAR races since she was 5 years old. Her dad, Emmett “Buddy” Jobe, brought NASCAR to Phoenix International Raceway in 1987. Now, Bain is more involved in NASCAR than she ever has been, but not as a spectator — as a rockin’ country musician.

The Ahwatukee Brass Quintet will play the National Anthem at its first spring training game this week in Scottsdale.

Jim Heath doesn't worry that his style of music will go out of style.

If you’ve never seen an ostrich race, it’s a good reason to head to Tumbleweed Park March 8-10. If you have seen an ostrich race, it’s probably a good idea to go down there and see another one to make sure it wasn’t some odd, exhilarating dream.

You know him as Luke Duke from “The Dukes of Hazzard,” but what you may not know about Tom Wopat, one of the two lead actors from the classic 1980s TV show, is that aside from his history of driving around the General Lee and foiling Boss Hogg’s latest scheme, he and his former co-star John Schneider are also accomplished musicians.

Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World’s Spring Fishing Classic is Feb. 22 through March 10. Basically a big show and sale of fishing gear, two highlights are catching our eye: first, a “Tips For Fishing Saguaro Lake” seminar and, second, a full weekend of fun for children.

The four members of the band Fat Tree, Sam Bischof, 27, and the Jacobs brothers — Eric, 31, Kyle, 28, and Samuel, 25 — are East Valley residents who have been performing together since high school.

This time of year, we rack up chances to get outside as if we’re keeping score; we know we’ll be dying for such opportunities come summertime.

A special election in March will decide if changes are made to Phoenix’s unbalanced pension system, which could save the city about $600 million over 25 years.

During his first period class, Josh Thye conducted Desert Vista High School’s top wind ensemble Thursday morning as they worked through a crinkle in the song “Shooting Stars.”

“I just poured Gatorade all over my plants.”

In Netflix’s bid for a flagship original drama of its own — a “Sopranos” to its HBO — the subscription streaming service is presenting a high-class adaptation of a British political thriller offered up all at once, with its first season immediately ready for TV-viewing gluttony.

Friends for Life Animal Rescue to host and be the beneficiary of an annual special dinner and silent auction from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, March 2 at The Buttes, A Marriott Resort, 2000 Westcourt Way, in Tempe.

Mountain Pointe High School’s band and parent boosters will be hosting a series of fundraisers in and around Ahwatukee Foothills this spring to raise money for a New Jersey school’s music department destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.