I did it. Even though it might make me the last person in Ahwatukee over the age of 9 to do so, I have a smartphone. It was not a case of desire; the screen on my “vintage” phone was so scratched I couldn’t see it, and it turned out I could get the smartphone and pay $10 less per month. I suspect the kid that sold it to me was like a seedy, back alley pusher — “come on, its even cheaper” — and that a smartphone is gateway technology.

You may better know her sister, Dakota, from box-office smashes like “War of the Worlds” and “The Twilight Saga,” but 14-year-old Elle Fanning has already made quite a name for herself among the arthouse set, appearing in such acclaimed works as “Babel,” “Somewhere” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” This month, she takes center stage in a new drama from writer/director Sally Potter entitled “Ginger & Rosa” – a coming-of-age tale set in 1962 London as the threat of the Cuban missile crisis looms overhead.

Although it’s not much, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” really deserves credit where credit’s due. Its 2009 predecessor was one of the dumbest action movies of the past 10 years. In this sequel, director Jon M. Chu of those “Step Up” movies makes an attempt to incorporate some humor, creative action sequences, and impressive visuals. That doesn’t mean “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” is a good movie, but at least it’s an improvement. The film could have gone down the route of the “Transformers” series, which only got worse with every entry.

In a week when North Korea posted a homemade video showing the U.S. Capitol building being destroyed by a missile, what more logical response could Hollywood offer than a macho thriller about a Secret Service agent who takes on North Korean terrorists who attack the White House? The first of two similarly themed action dramas set for this year ("White House Down" arrives in June), "Olympus Has Fallen" will put to the test the question of whether American audiences are ready, 12 years after 9-11, to watch, strictly as disposable popcorn entertainment, a film in which the United States and some of its most prominent landmarks are devastated by foreign terrorists.

The new chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission signaled Monday that the days of pushing solar and renewable energy over other sources are over.

Wow! I didn’t know that, “Wind and solar provide many jobs and wind is cheaper than new coal per kilowatt hour.” But local science experts, Michael and Kat Shores, assure us that it is so (“Energy we can’t afford,” AFN, Oct. 21).

Fifty years ago, the world woke up to a crisis that brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of a cataclysmic nuclear war.

We don’t want any more subsidies for expensive, unsafe nuclear power or dirty coal.

They are our neighbors. They live to the north of us in rural Arizona. Some are Native Americans, many still live in primitive conditions; other folks dwell in small communities, eking out livelihoods. Various are generational Arizonans, whose pioneer forefathers settled this state.

The outcome of next month’s race for the Arizona Corporation Commission will determine how much more solar and other renewable energy electric utility consumers will have to buy.

I’d like to both agree (on one view) and take issue with Susan Stamper-Brown’s Guest Commentary of Aug. 3 (“The Futility of Gun Control”). I find several of her views to be very closed-minded and illogical, as I do those of many people who advocate no attempt at sensible gun control.

I’m willing to bet that, if you’re a new parent, you’ve lain awake some nights hearing that first little cry over the baby monitor, and prayed that Li’l Bundle o’Joy will just snortle himself back to sleep.

Here's Jenny McCarthy, the 2.0 version.

David Schapira, candidate for Congressional District 9, made it clear that he’s running for office to support education and jobs during his appearance Friday at the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Committee meeting.

As superhero summers go, this one is truly super.

As superhero summers go, this one is truly super.

Congressional candidate Travis Grantham has spent his whole life hearing about border issues, but says when he hopped on a helicopter and took an aerial view of the U.S.-Mexico border last week it really opened his eyes to how big the problem is.

Congressional candidate Travis Grantham has spent his whole life hearing about border issues, but says when he hopped on a helicopter and took an aerial view of the U.S.-Mexico border last week it really opened his eyes to how big the problem is.

Barack Obama’s open-mic comments to Russian President Medvedev gave us a terrifying insight into the true mindset of our president.

Although gentle in nature, loving and free-spirited, beagles are not known for their obedience.

If you are planning on watching any of your favorite TV shows over the next couple of weeks, make sure to set your DVR’s. If you don’t, you will get stuck watching the endless stream of GOP presidential primary commercials from our candidates who will be promising you the world.