Kick-off river season in style with Salt River Tubing’s annual launch event. This western-themed shindig offers free cowboy boot koozies and bandanas to the first 500 tubers, live music from 98KUPD, line dancing and lots of giveaways, not to mention a leisurely float down the scenic Lower Salt River.

Olivia Maiefski, a 2009 alumnus from Mountain Pointe High School, graduated from the University of Arizona Honors College with a Bachelor of Science in speech, language and hearing sciences and a minor in Spanish. Maiefski graduated summa cum laude.

Last week, the Division I and II baseball state tournaments moved to spring training stadiums across the Valley.

The go-to beverage of Cinco de Mayo is now available in dessert form. Margarita cupcakes are the latest offering from Scottsdale cupcake shop Sprinkles. The tangy little number with key lime-tequila cake capped by key lime frosting and sprinkled with salt is available May 3-5 at the bakery, 4501 N. Scottsdale Road.

The best-tasting veggie burger I’ve ever met is falafel. A product of the Middle East, falafel are deep-fried fritters made from ground chickpeas or fava beans that are tucked into pita pockets and drizzled with tahini. They are delicious, hearty, inexpensive and relatively healthy.

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense operational committee, announced that three Arizona employers have been selected as semifinalists for the 2013 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.

Take the fam out for a not-so-ordinary night at the ball park, where a host of celebs — including Darnell Dockett, Richard Sherman, Gary Payton, Marcel Reece, Louis Vito, Eddie House, Terrell Owens, Tia Alexander, Claudia Jordan, Lindsey Berg, and of course, Larry Fitzgerald — battle it out in a charity softball game, benefiting the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the American Cancer Society, among others.

Hospice of the Valley has received a $100,000 grant from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community to enhance end-of-life care and grief support services for children and families in Maricopa County.

More than 25 barbecue vendors gather at Salt River Fields for this annual event, which will feature the inaugural Redneck Games. This cornpone competition includes a hub cap hurling challenge, a watermelon seed spitting contest and dead lawn mower races. Live music also plays throughout the day.

If your goal is to lose weight, look and feel your best and live a healthy, vibrant life, be aware of the damaging additives and synthetic chemicals in the foods you buy and eat. Seventy-five percent of the average American diet is from processed and packaged foods, which equates to approximately 10 pounds of additives eaten annually.

Whenever Esi Impraim’s mother made jollof — a rich, tomato-laced dish of meats, rice and sometimes seafood — the time it took to bubble away on the stove was always excruciating.

An evening of snazzy clothes, cocktails, art, music and fine dining could be fun for you — but crucial for some of Arizona’s struggling men, women and children.

Victor Buono is the owner of Nicantoni’s New York Style Pizza, 1430 W. Warner Road, Gilbert

Diane Brown, executive director of the Arizona PIRG Education Fund (formerly New Jersey’s and Illinois’ PIRG executive director), fails to mention (“SRP needs to provide vision, advance energy efficiency,” AFN, March 29) that Salt River Project (SRP) meets and exceeds all FERC, NERC, and EPA (FED government agencies) regulations and SRP provides lower utility rates than “regulated utilities” in Arizona.

Pressure cookers never really did much for me. They seemed fussy — and scary! All those stories about explosions...

While spring has sprung, here in the Valley it is beginning to feel more like summer. And with 100-degree days around the corner, many of us are beginning to think about where we will take refuge from the heat and how high our electric bills will climb.

Salt River Project (SRP), the Arizona Multihousing Association and Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona (DPCA) have joined forces to remind the public to stay safe around water at community pools.

Homeowners have many options when it comes to going green, but one Ahwatukee Foothills family discovered with the right company they could install solar panels on their home for no up-front cost and see immediate savings.

With April being Water Awareness Month, March turned out to be a pretty good time to start focusing on saving water when Salt River Project hosted its sixth annual Water Conservation Expo at the SRP PERA Club in Tempe.

As spring temperatures warm, be ready to increase the irrigation cycle on some watering zones around your house. To make sure your spring-summer garden transition happens easily, complete a thorough irrigation check-up to detect any existing and potential problems — before temperatures rise and timely watering becomes a crisis.

The Ahwatukee Brass Quintet will play the National Anthem at its first spring training game this week in Scottsdale.

There is just something about roasted chicken that comforts, nourishes and satisfies like nothing else, especially when the wind is howling and it is cold outside.

You’ve got to love living in the place everyone else wants to be.

After five hours of heated and passionate public comment and discussion on Tuesday, the Phoenix City Council approved a change to the city’s human resources ordinance to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability.