One arrived before Rudy Valee and the other a year before The Beatles, but together they made beautiful music in nurturing a piece of Ahwatukee that spanned the decades between the roaring ‘20s and this year’s cold winter rains.

Last week was National Poison Prevention Week and the Arizona Humane Society (AHS) is reminding pet owners to keep their pets out of harm’s way. According to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), its Animal Poison Control Center answers more than 200,000 calls for help annually.

From raisins to onions to acetaminophen, the typical Ahwatukee home is filled with items that can be toxic to pets.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the No. 1 cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. The top risk factors, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, diabetes and obesity are poorly treated, often with toxic pharmaceutical drugs, and most patients never reach their goals. There are also more than 400 coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors and mediators now proven.

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.

Q: Where can I take my old computers and cell phones to be recycled properly? — Suzanne

Everyone could use a little help keeping those New Year’s resolutions to slim down. But if it means the government limiting junk food, the response is an overwhelming, “No.”

The holiday boys basketball tournaments have wrapped up, and it’s time for the second half of the power points schedule. Before we move ahead, here is a look at the notable teams, players and moments from the first two months of the season:

Don’t tell anyone, but I am old enough to remember things like cooking before microwaves, and being excited about really, really slow video games. I remember people smoking on planes and a time before the term “designated driver.”

New York Times bestselling author James Rollins and co-writer Rebecca Cantrell will appear at the Poisoned Pen bookstore from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 9 to sign copies of “The Blood Gospel.”

As the tree goes up, the holiday decorations come out and homes fill with family and friends, the Arizona Humane Society (AHS) is reminding pet owners to please keep their pets away from the following hazards this holiday season:

Imagine a woman who aspires her entire life to earn her dream job. She hopes to help others and is dedicated to her profession and community. Then it all comes crashing down, not because of her behavior, but due to co-worker sexual harassment, intimidation and supervisory neglect.

The state’s top health official said Wednesday there’s a simple, cost-free way to prevent dozens of children from dying each year: Let them sleep alone.

Peering through the new prescription glasses he just got from the veterans hospital, Korean War veteran Gilbert Torres sifted through a stack of papers detailing claims he’d had pending with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs since July 2011.

Hey mom and dad: Halloween’s not really all that scary — except when it comes to traffic safety.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has declared Oct. 21-27 Cat Week, but we can honor our feline family members all year by following these tips:

Government’s size affects its budget requirements. Budgets set revenue requirements. Ever increasing revenue requirements force new tax increases. New taxes reduce taxpayer purchasing power, which causes unemployment and business failure. Unemployment and business failures cause larger demands on our governmental social spending, which causes higher taxes, which causes... Well; you get the idea... more unemployment?

Q: I heard you guys talking on your radio show about some tool that used red, green and yellow dots to alert you of dangerous websites when you are searching. I was in my car and couldn’t write it down, so could you tell me what it was called? — Gina

Patient after patient asked: Is eating organic food, which costs more, really better for me?

Last month I highlighted Jacqueline Winspear’s “Maise Dobbs” series and this month is dedicated to Canadian author Louise Penny and the wonderful world she has created in the fictional setting of Three Pines, a rural Canadian village south of Montreal, just kilometers from the Vermont border.

What I can’t understand is why the (new express bus route) schedule is so drastically different. It’s like whoever decided this did so it would fail. And basically that is the way the “parties in question” want it to have happen. This appears to be a little bone that we are getting thrown covered with rat poison. Why not just come out and say: “We don’t want the residents of Ahwatukee having the privilege of riding to work on a bus?” Quit beating around the bush — you want it to have a low ridership the next six months so you are making it unworkable for a lot of us, which will result in us taking our cars or car pooling. I am tired of “talking” to deaf ears and trying to make a blind person “see.” You are winning this one and that is a shame. Too bad we aren’t working with intelligent adults.

The wonderful thing about discovering an author you enjoy who writes a series is the anticipation of the next book ... just knowing that as you turn the last page there is another good book on the horizon. And if you discover them after the series has been around a while, you can eagerly go from one book to the next with the characters you have come to love.

Authorities say they have busted up a drug trafficking cell in Tempe that, in adddition to being linked to the Sinaloa Cartel from Mexico, has received shipments of drugs from South and Central America, only to have domestic traffickers distribute the drugs to all corners of the nation.

Sweet potato vines decorating window boxes? Blueberry plants prized more for their foliage than their fruit?

Food poisoning is not fun. Poor personal hygiene of the cook or servers, improper cleaning of preparation, storage areas, and utensils can all cause contamination of raw as well as cooked foods. Many different kinds of bacteria and viruses are responsible for food poisoning. The good news is that a person must ingest a large amount of the offending organism to become ill. That is why taking proper care of our groceries and cooked food prevents the bacteria and viruses already found on raw food from multiplying and that is why proper cooking destroys the organisms while proper storage helps avoid re-contamination.