It’s been eight months since I had the great opportunity to join the Ahwatukee Foothills News. Since that time we have not made radical changes to the paper or wild editorial changes to the product. What I wanted to do was listen to our readers and take note of any changes that would aid this great community.

Positive Coaching Alliance has announced the official kick off of its new Phoenix Chapter. Established in 1998, Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) is a national nonprofit organization providing all youth and high school athletes a positive, character-building youth sports experience.

This weekend was warm enough that locals seemed to collectively change their wardrobes from light layers to tank tops, shorts and other summer staples. If you cringe at the thought of your right to bare arms, then it’s time to take the Tough Lotus Challenge.

Practicing what we have been preaching about the need to shop locally, the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce is partnering with a local business on our annual print Resource Guide and Directory. The Chamber’s 2013-14 Directory will be marketed, designed and produced through an agreement with the Ahwatukee Foothills News (AFN), the publisher of this newspaper and a chamber member. We believe this will be a valuable partnership for all chamber members and those who take advantage of this opportunity to get their message out to the public.

The Norwegian directing team of Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg, whose biopic of World War II resistance fighter Max Manus was a huge hit on home turf, have turned to another native hero for "Kon-Tiki." One of the most-vaunted escapades of the 20th century, Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 Peru-to-Polynesia expedition by raft gets glossy big-screen treatment in this efficiently told action-adventure. Delivering visual drama and understated character study, sometimes in disappointingly formulaic fashion, the feature has its incisive moments but falls short as both epic and intimate portrait.

Dr. Neal Lester, author and professor of English at Arizona State University, was honored with an achievement award for the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of West Georgia 36th annual Alumni Association Awards Gala. A native of Jefferson, Ga., Lester graduated from the University of West Georgia in 1981 with a bachelor of arts degree in English.

Despite the bad rap that saturated fats have, there’s a lot of evidence indicating that saturated fat is essentially good for you. The real harmful and unhealthy fats include trans fats, hydrogenated fats and vegetable oils.

Trees in the city of Phoenix provide $9.4 million in annual benefit to residents in air quality, storm water management, energy savings, shade and aesthetics, according to the city of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department.

Those 19 or older who have a disability and live in the Phoenix area or one of Phoenix’s nine sister cities are eligible for the fourth annual Phoenix Sister Cities International Competition for Writers with Disabilities. The deadline for submitting entries is May 3.

An Ahwatukee Foothills teen was arrested Tuesday night after crashing into multiple cars and a block wall while allegedly driving intoxicated.

With all the gizmos, gadgets and electronic media available these days, it can be tough for parents to get kids to sit down with good old-fashioned books. But regular reading, done for fun, is linked to better school performance and can expose kids to a world of knowledge.

As kids, many had the same dream of hitting a walk-off home run to win the World Series. Now baseball season is finally under way, and there is no shortage of opportunities to share your passion of the game with your children.

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.

Saying it's nobody business, state lawmakers are poised to keep local governments -- and anyone else -- from finding out who owns a gun.

Phoenix Public Library has expanded its successful Project NOOK to all library locations.

Positive Coaching Alliance has announced the official kick off of its new Phoenix Chapter. Established in 1998, Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) is a national nonprofit organization committed to providing all youth and high school athletes a positive, character-building youth sports experience.

I, for one, appreciate the guest commentaries that the AFN has published written by Ahwatukee Foothills resident Don Kennedy. He has a love for our country and a good understanding of history and of our Constitution. When we forget history and our Constitution, we lose our liberties. Some people can see it happening before others, and I believe Mr. Kennedy is one of those precious visionary individuals. He loves our country. How can he not speak up?

A farmer would be horrified over the notion of an Arizona coyote being assigned to watch over his chicken coop. Arizonans should be worried that some public officials think they should be responsible for watching over themselves.

As the Internet continues its growth and small business works its way into today’s social realms, plenty of questions continue to arise.

State lawmakers are moving to cut by half what cities and counties have to pay to publish their legal notices.

A new legislative proposal on publication requirements for legal notices could pit large papers against small ones and dailies against weeklies -- all at a potential higher cost to taxpayers.

It’s a call from a relative. It may be a grandson or a cousin. But this is one call you don’t want.

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.

The state House on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to legislation that will let the state's largest cities publish their legal notices online rather than spending money to buy newspaper ads.

I was disappointed to hear recently that there’s little appetite in Washington for another “assault weapons ban.”