Dear Mikey,

Editor’s note: This is part one of a continuing summer series on the proposed South Mountain Loop 202 Freeway.

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

Tommy Martinez stands all of 5-foot-6, maybe 5-6 ½ in his cleats, hits ninth in the Mountain Pointe lineup and is just a sophomore.

Noah Miller is in a perpetual fight with his own body.

Last week, Mayor Greg Stanton backed away from his campaign promise to the repeal of the food tax. Although I and many other Phoenicians are disappointed in his decision, I have appealed to the city manager and the other city councilmembers to help provide a plan that allows us to wean ourselves off the food tax revenue.

For years yoga has been a way to escape the pressures of life for Sandra Lassiter, but three years ago she made yoga a way of life by opening Hot Yoga in Ahwatukee Foothills.

The major league scouts who surrounded Mountain Pointe’s baseball field on Tuesday should have come back Wednesday morning to truly see what Zach Cordova is about.

The final tally is in, and the third annual Indians/Reds Celebrity Golf Classic raised $21,586.40, an increase of about $7,000 over last year, according to tournament officials.

Going against the grain suited Mountain Pointe just fine.

Jeff Holland has been around the game for a long time and he isn’t sure what to make of the start the Mesquite baseball club has had thus far.

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

Shoulder pain is one of the most common reasons that a patient is seen in the orthopaedic office. The vast majority of shoulder pain is treated non-operatively with physical therapy and sometimes a cortisone injection. The most common source of shoulder pain is the rotator cuff. For most patients, they have either a partial rotator cuff tear or tendinitis. Partial tears of the rotator cuff occur with increasing frequency with increasing age, but overhead activities can certainly incite more severe symptoms. These are the types of injuries that very rarely require any type of surgical intervention. Therapy and an injection normally resolve 80 percent of these problems. There are only a small percentage of patients who continue to have symptoms for greater than six months, despite therapy. For those still symptomatic despite conservative treatment, shoulder arthroscopy becomes an option. The patients who have a full thickness rotator cuff tear, particularly tears that are large, will require surgery to repair the cuff. Although this can be done arthroscopically, rotator cuff repairs will require at least three months of physical therapy post operatively. The consequence of not repairing a rotator cuff is a tear that continues to worsen potentially leading to severe arthritis.

Did you know that 77 percent of businesses that have a social media asset (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., account) have received at least one lead from that asset? If I told you that on average a person will spend 20 to 40 percent more with a business they have a relationship with on social media than someone they don’t, would you believe me? My next question is — are you making the most of your social media assets?

Saying they are being crushed by the cost of patients unable to pay, hospital executives rallied Wednesday to back a plan by Gov. Jan Brewer to expand the state’s Medicaid program.

Saying they are being crushed by the cost of patients unable to pay, hospital executives rallied Wednesday to back a plan by Gov. Jan Brewer to expand the state's Medicaid program.

I am a registered Republican and I vote in every election. I own a swimming pool maintenance company, and have had a 47-year career, to date, in the residential pool industry: new construction, maintenance and repair, mostly right here in the Valley of the Sun. I am a Phoenix native.

The headache, sometimes handy as an excuse, more often than not, a very real, annoying discomfort. For some, it is a pain that is debilitating and in some rare instances a headache could signal an emergency medical situation.

In three years of providing in-home care for seniors and hospice patients Valerie Sanders said she’s amazed how many seniors need care and how many care takers don’t know where to turn for help.

With flu season upon us, many people question whether or not they should get a flu shot. Instead of putting your health at great risk by getting a flu shot, a healthier option is to boost your immune system naturally and limit immune suppressors.

It was Oct. 26, a perfect fall morning in Maryland, just days before Hurricane Sandy hit.

The holiday season is upon us. Over the next few weeks, schedules will be filled with shopping, holiday parties, relatives, plenty of food and spirits and obligations. Socializing during the holidays can be stressful and challenging for some people, especially if your friends and family are not as health-conscious as you. The abundance of holiday treats and homemade goodies can be hard to resist. Fortunately, there’s plenty you can do to avoid holiday weight gain.

More than 300 million people worldwide experience severe or debilitating headaches. Migraines alone affect 9 percent of the U.S. population and cost $1 billion a year in direct medical expenses. The incidence of individuals who suffer migraine headaches has increased by 50 percent within the last 20 years with 75 percent of migraine sufferers being women.

Acupuncture gets a thumbs-up for helping relieve pain from chronic headaches, backaches and arthritis in a review of more than two dozen studies — the latest analysis of an often-studied therapy that has as many fans as critics.