Dear Mikey,

Q: What type of business services or products do you provide?

If you are returning to the dating world after a long time away or if you have not had the dating life you hoped for, maybe it is time to try something different.

Though she’s going to miss seeing her students grow in their love of books, Kyrene Monte Vista Elementary librarian Sue Race said it’s time for her to move on.

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.

There is no short answer to the question — one which is asked by almost every gun control advocate in the U.S.

Summer School … these two words can sound like a one- to two-month jail sentence for students in school.

As anyone who has ever taken a standardized test knows, the last step in preparing for the test is to sharpen your No. 2 pencil. That may not be enough, however, for those thinking about taking college entrance exams. Planning and preparation for the ACT/SAT should begin now for rising seniors. Here are some topics to consider as you establish your test-taking strategies.

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.

It was a small turnout with a lot of passion at the Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children (PARC) meeting on Saturday, May 11.

With the onslaught of Oscar contenders that debuted last November, there’s a good chance that a little-seen indie gem, “Starlet,” managed to fall off your radar during its short, theatrical run. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 SXSW film festival, “Starlet” explores the unlikely friendship between a cheerful, aspiring actress (played by the winsome Dree Hemingway) and a cantankerous, elderly widow (the late Besedka Johnson).

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.

Where are the “silver linings” for the Ahwatukee Foothills area from the proposed South Mountain Freeway?

The 94th annual Children’s Book Week, the national celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading, officially starts May 13, but youngsters can join activities sooner at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe:

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 Chandler Children’s Choir is presenting its spring concert, “Dancing Around the World,” a collection of songs representing different nationalities and cultures in different languages.

Now that the Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) for the proposed South Mountain Loop 202 Freeway expansion has been released, local environmentalists are planning to use the 90-day comment period to tear it apart.

A federal judge on Tuesday slapped down the latest efforts by the state to block the Tohono O'odham from building a casino on the edge of Glendale.

"Had I known about the crime problems around Arizona State University I would have never let Kyleigh move to Tempe.” Those are the words of Karen Montenegro, the mother of murdered ASU student Kyleigh Sousa.

TEMPE - It’s a baseball storyline that has played out hundreds of times over, one Mountain Pointe came to regret.

Did you catch The Rev. Jesse Jackson the other night on CNN demanding a Senate hearing into why regulators never cracked down on that gruesome abortion clinic in Philadelphia?

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.

The adage “truth is stranger than fiction” is proven in “The Lost Wife,” by Alyson Richman. She has succeeded in blending both for an unforgettable reading experience.

Trumpeter/bandleader Doc Severinsen can still hit the notes, and it's not something he ever takes for granted. He always warms up.

Having observed the failure of our education system by dumbing-down our children for the past 50 years, concern has to be expressed about the “new” Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI).