A lacrosse stick is a simple piece of equipment: a metal pole, a plastic head and some coarse netting.

1. On April 22 around 8:30 p.m. police responded to a call of graffiti at a park in the 13200 block of South 48th Street. Unknown suspects, two adult males between the ages of 20 and 25, were seen spraying paint in the park. An officer located the pavilion and found a can of black spray paint, which was impounded for evidence and DNA analysis.

Music therapists

Gov. Jan Brewer refused Thursday to make Arizona the second state in the nation to declare privately minted gold and silver coins, bars and ingots to be legal tender in the state.

In the galaxy of big-screen superheros — a rather glum lot — Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man is the snappy one.

So if you think the lines at the grocery store move slowly now, imagine waiting behind someone who wants to pay with a few chunks of gold.

Resign to run

1. On Monday, April 15 at 10 p.m. police reported a false reporting to law enforcement. A man near the 13000 block of South Wakial Loop initially reported his wife had been kidnapped, police said. An investigation indicated the wife was having drinks with another male subject, the man knew that and was trying to file a false report, police said.

There's a siege mentality about Michael Bay's movies, as though viewers are the enemy holed up in a bunker and he's the guy ordering heavy-metal music around-the-clock to wear down our morale and force us to surrender.

State lawmakers are close to declaring privately minted gold and silver coins to be legal tender in Arizona.

Does your outfit blend into the woodwork?

Every year leading up to Easter, on a temporary, five-story, outdoor stage erected near downtown Mesa, the story of the life and mission of Jesus Christ, taken from the Bible, is portrayed in live performance, music and dance.

From the moment chocolate was discovered it was considered a valuable, divine and decadent treat. The first chocolate candies were invented in the 1860s by Cadbury, who was also the first to market them in a heart-shaped box for Valentine’s Day that same decade.

Walking into an automotive garage on McDowell Road filled with scrap metal and rusted auto parts, in the center is a beautiful mint-green 1932 Ford sedan.

This week's "Jack the Giant Slayer," a 3-D retelling of the Jack and the Beanstalk legend, contains all the elements of the classic tale: farm boy, beans, giants, etc. But along for the ride is a new character, Princess Isabelle, played by Eleanor Tomlinson.

From bubble machines, lemon batteries, and catapult tests, Sonoran Science Academy’s gymnasium was filled with a range of projects last Friday for the school’s fourth science fair.

The National Association Realtors and Remodeling Magazine released a report comparing remodeling cost versus value. Results depend upon various factors such as location, work quality, neighborhood home values, the timing of selling the house and the actual completion of the project.

Calling it a key to preventing mass shootings, a House panel voted Wednesday to require teachers and health professionals to report potentially dangerous people to police.

In celebration of Black History Month, Southeast Regional Library in Gilbert is hosting an exhibit of West African art on loan from local genealogist Joyce Reese McCollum.

A new study about the prevalence of mercury in fish should give consumers food for thought. According to the Biodiversity Research Institute report, “Fish samples from around the world regularly demonstrate mercury concentrations exceeding human health advisory guidelines.” Because both mercury pollution and fish supplies are global — 75 percent of the fish consumed in the U.S. is imported — no one country can solve this widespread problem.

Everyday after classes are dismissed at Desert Vista High School, engineering and robotics students stick around campus to test, build and design their robots.

We are all familiar with the fact that chemicals, particularly pesticides and herbicides, have negative side effects. The United States and international government agencies have acknowledged that different pesticides have been linked to a variety of health problems including hormonal disruption, skin, eye and lung irritation, birth defects, weight gain, nervous system toxicity and cancer. Many times, the negative effects of pesticides can take a long time to show, and by the time symptoms are clear, a lot of damage may have already been done.

Q: Does it affect your iPhone’s battery life when you charge it every night? I have found a lot of conflicting answers on the web. — Madeline

The first time I had to test a recipe for steamed fish was back in the ’80s, when I was working in the test kitchen at Gourmet magazine. And truthfully, the very idea seemed preposterous.