Cox Communications, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land, is seeking nominations for Arizona’s second Cox Conserves Heroes awards program. Nominations are being accepted at www.cox7.com/cox-conserves for volunteers who are creating, preserving or enhancing outdoor spaces.

Urban AZ’s first Spoken Word Showcase brings together a range of poetic performers, along with R&B artists Dwele and Bilal with a band, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18 at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix.

Even though “The Great Gatsby” has gotten the movie treatment several times in the past, no film adaptation has ever really stood out as the definitive version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s celebrated novel. Director Baz Luhrmann’s film is certainly the most visually arresting interpretation of “The Great Gatsby” ever produced. Catherine Martin, who previous worked with Luhrmann on “Moulin Rouge,” “Romeo + Juliet,” and “Australia,” deserves multiple Oscar nominations for her hyper sets and eye-popping costumes. As wonderful as Luhrmann’s “Great Gatsby” is to look at, the enchanting visuals are also ironically the movie’s downfall. In the midst of the art direction, costumes, and music, the story and characters that made Fitzgerald’s book a classic become a mere afterthought.

Even though “The Great Gatsby” has gotten the movie treatment several times in the past, no film adaptation has ever really stood out as the definitive version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s celebrated novel.

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

Resign to run

If you weren’t convinced of his talent by James Blake’s debut album, his sophomore release, “Overgrown,” will do the trick.

Resign to run

New York • When he first started working with Imagine Dragons, music producer Alex da Kid was looking for some inspiration for the Broadway musical, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”

America’s sixteenth president is currently visiting the East Valley. Chandler Hamilton Library is featuring “Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Time, A Man for All Times,” an exhibit on display through May 3 that celebrates the life and leadership of Lincoln. The exhibit was created by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

As temperatures begin rising, so do concerns for children around pools with no fences. To help alleviate the worries of families and assure children’s safety, Fulton Homes is kicking off its annual Fence Patrol program this month.

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense operational committee, announced that three Arizona employers have been selected as semifinalists for the 2013 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.

The Grammy-nominated comedian performs his “It’s Not Me, It’s You” show in Phoenix — for viewers 18 and older only.

A-Peeling Faces Skincare and Massage Therapy is celebrating seven years in business this month. The company has won/placed Best of Ahwatukee four of those years and Darla M. Salem, owner, has been nominated for the Palo Verde Women in Business award two of those years.

Future bids to oust public officials through recall could get a lot harder under the terms of legislation given preliminary approval Tuesday by the Senate.

He has given standout performances in the likes of “The Big Lebowski,” “Crazy Heart” and “True Grit,” but Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges’ enormous talent doesn’t stop there. His illustrious resume runs the gamut from musician to author to humanitarian, which begs the question: Is there anything he can’t do?

Jackie Robinson was the ideal class act to break the barrier and become the first black player in Major League Baseball.

If Gov. Jan Brewer gets to name another Supreme Court judge before she leaves office, she's going to have more choices -- if the law is not overturned.

The first image you see in "The Place Beyond the Pines" is of Ryan Gosling's shirtless torso, ripped and tatted atop a skin-tight pair of leather pants.

It may not be as mainstream a form of expression these days as, say, Instagram, but poetry, that old-fashioned art of arranging language to create an emotional response through meaning, sound and rhythm, is alive and well.

For the fifth time in eight years, a Drury student has been named to the prestigious American Advertising Federation (AAF) Vance L. Stickell Memorial Internship Program. Drury junior Tinsley Andrews is the latest recipient. The internship program recognizes the top 15 AAF students in the nation.

Six Valley Christian student-athletes, including three Ahwatukee Foothills residents, earned All-Academic honors from Pros2Preps.

LOS ANGELES — A grave 12-year-old African girl, abducted from her village by vicious armed rebels and forced to wage war as a child soldier, guides the viewer through the horrors of Canadian director Kim Nguyen's engrossing Oscar-nominated drama "War Witch." Managing to be neither sentimental nor sensationalistic, the film tells its story from the heart, and from the simple, straightforward viewpoint of young heroine Komona, warmly played by the talented Rachel Mwanza in her screen debut.

Eighteen years ago Raymond Puente began work at Big O Tires as a general service tire installer. Today, he has a goal to own five Big O stores in the next five years and he knows just how much work it will take to do that.