I am tired of reading articles denigrating public worker pensions. Let’s get one thing straight; teachers, policemen, firefighters and municipal workers did not crash the economy. It was crashed by unregulated banks and financial institutions with the blessings of Congress, who were later rewarded with bailouts while middle-class Americans bore the brunt.

Students and staff at Kyrene Altadeña Middle School are hosting a fundraiser dinner for their beloved choir teacher this week.

Trace Adkins works with five different producers on his 11th album, suggesting the country music veteran and reality TV star is searching for an infusion of fresh energy.

Phoenix film makers Marcus A. Stricklin and Sandy Kim, of Future Legends Production, have been invited to the Cannes Short Film Corner for the production of their film, “The Last Dance,” working with children actors from Ahwatukee.

Calling the governor's proposal unacceptable and politically dead at the Legislature, House Speaker Andy Tobin unveiled his own new plan Tuesday to expand Medicaid, one that would give Arizona voters the final say.

Seeking to keep fields accessible and available to some 4,000 kids in and around Ahwatukee, various youth sports leagues met with the Kyrene School District on Monday after add-on costs to the Ahwatukee Foothills Pony Baseball Association caused heated community concern.

Jewell Parker Roades, the Virginia G. Piper Chair in Creative writing, meets fans and discusses "Sugar," her new novel for middle readers. It tells the story of a 10-year-old girl who lives on a sugar plantation on the banks of the Mississippi and takes it upon herself to serve as the cultural bridge between the plantation residents and the Chinese workers who come to harvest the cane. Roades will sign copies of her book after the presentation.

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.

The scenes were about 20 miles and three hours apart on Thursday, but nonetheless felt much the same.

Brown is a sweet and quiet Sealpoint Siamese. He’s a beautiful and affectionate middle-aged male who loves to be petted, and craves a stress-free household after the passing of his owner. He is fixed, tested, and has all his shots.

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.

The Desert Vista boys volleyball team nearly climbed out of the depths of elimination Thursday but it proved to be too much for the top-seeded Thunder.

Ninety feet is the perfect distance between bases, but on Thursday afternoon it must have felt more like 90 miles for Mountain Pointe.

Stretched along Kyrene Centennial Middle School’s track on Saturday for the district’s first Acts of Kindness event, Kyrene Monte Vista Elementary students raked in a paper chain with more than 3,000 links representing random acts of kindness.

Ahwatukee resident Michael Feyrer subscribes to the philosophy that his life is like a pair of shoes — to be worn out in service.

The soft underbelly of a lot of volleyball teams is right in the middle of the net.

Horrible, the loss of three innocent lives in the Boston bombing. Then what word could one use to express the fact that between 158,000 and 202,000 civilians have died as a result of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan?

Darkness can be paralyzing.