During Arizona’s hot summer months hiking is still possible, but experts agree that early morning is the time to be on the trails.
“At night the sun has baked on the asphalt all day long and as the sun goes down the asphalt releases that heat,” said Elizabeth Smith, park ranger at South Mountain Park. “Even though the sun is down and you may not have direct sun on you, it’s still hot out. In the morning it’s 80 degrees. I would suggest looking at what the temperature is throughout the day before you make your plans.”


It’s unfortunate, but true: The elderly population may be the most vulnerable group in our society. In fact, in an effort to call attention to the problems of physical, emotional and financial abuse of the elderly, the United Nations has designated June 15 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. If you have older parents, or even grandparents, can you do to anything to help prevent them from being victimized, especially with regard to their finances?

Owners of The Lakes Golf Course have decided not to continue to fill a lake on Lakeside Boulevard in Ahwatukee now that the golf course has shut down for business. That is forcing the neighboring homeowners association’s pond to dry up and residents are scrambling to save stranded fish and turtles.

Whether you had parents that were distant or parents that were overbearing, we all likely dreamed about running away from home while growing up. These unrealistic fantasies likely involved hitting the road with one or two good friends and building a safe haven somewhere in the wildness. Naturally, we all quickly woke up from this daydream, realizing that we’d never make it on our own. “The Kings of Summer” exists in an offbeat world fueled by our youthful daydreams. The end product is funny and quirky, but also wise and nostalgic with something meaningful to say about coming of age.

Pogo is a male “Beagle blend,” about 6 years old. He’s a sweet and loving little guy. Friends for Life rescued Pogo from the Yuma Humane Society where he was turned in several times as a stray. The last time he was turned in, however, his family never came to claim him. His outlook for finding a home was not good. Pogo was adopted from Friends for Life a few months ago, however, the family determined they didn’t have enough time for a dog. He’s hoping this time around for a family that will be dedicated to keeping him safe, sound, and loved. Pogo enjoys a good cuddle, going for walks when it’s cool, and just look at that face!

With temperatures on the rise, it’s important to stay hydrated and replenish your electrolytes. Whether you exercise intensely or your child participates in an outdoor sport or you’re a construction worker with a physically demanding job, you’re at risk of dehydration and loss of electrolytes.

As Christy Everson was nearing age 40, she made a decision: She wanted to have a child, even though she was single and it meant doing it all alone. Her daughter, conceived via a sperm donor, is now 2 1/2 years old, and Everson hopes to have a second child.


While driving on Ray Road recently I saw a bumper sticker reading: “People who think guns kill people must think that pencils misspell words.”


As some of you may know I have been covering the Jodi Arias murder trial as a legal expert for FOX 10 and other national TV stations. I’ve probably done over 65 TV appearances as a legal expert on the case. This case has turned out to be the biggest case of 2013 and maybe as big as the O.J. Simpson case.

AZPASS (Arizona People Acting for a Safer Society) would like to respond to Bill Richardson (“Limiting magazine capacity: Let’s try it!,” AFN, April 28) who seems to want to only confuse the discussion, and to prevent the rest of us from reaching a reasonable consensus on sensible gun regulation.


Like most future college freshmen, Ahwatukee’s Alexis Lupercio is determined and eager to make it to every class her first semester.
But the driving factor isn’t just a headstrong devotion to her education, it’s also because she’s never missed a day of school in her life.
Proving that senioritis didn’t get the best of her, Lupercio, 17, recently graduated from Mountain Pointe High School and has gone through some 13 years of schooling without calling in sick or leaving town, giving her a true perfect attendance record.
“It kind of just happened,” said Lupercio. “There have definitely been days where I asked my mom if I could miss school, but in the back of my head I knew I couldn’t miss.”
Though she never got sick enough to stay home all of those years, Lupercio insisted on going to school albeit tiredness from late-night study sessions and light colds.
Noting that both of her parents were supportive and encouraged her to keep up the record, Lupercio also credited a sense of independence.
“It’s just me being independent and taking responsibility instead of relying on others,” she said, mentioning that a pet peeve of hers is asking others for class notes or making up tests.
Though she was present on campus for all of her primary school years, being involved in student council as Mountain Pointe’s senior class president this year took her away from some classes for event set-up or other activities.
“I was even the one who had never missed a student council meeting last year,” Lupercio said.
Along with student council, Lupercio played volleyball as an underclassman and also was a member of the National Honors Society and the Language Honors Society. She also attended Kyrene de la Esperanza Elementary and Kyrene Centennial Middle schools.
With a plan to study business exploratory at Arizona State University this fall, Lupercio wants to be just as involved on a new turf.
“I really like being involved, I got to get to know more about the school and our other students so that was cool,” she said. “I want to see all that’s out there.”
For others who might want to finish out their high school days with daily attendance, Lupercio said it’s all about responsibility.
“I think anyone can do this,” she said. “It’s your responsibility to go to school, just go for it.”


Humanity's home planet hardly merits the name-check in "After Earth," M. Night Shyamalan's sci-fi survival tale whose shipwreck action could (with the exception of a scene where our hero scrawls a crude map over Lascaux-like cave paintings) take place on any old life-supporting globe in the cosmos. The disappointingly generic film, which strands a father and son (Will and Jaden Smith) on Earth a thousand years after a planet-wide evacuation, will leave genre audiences pining for the more Terra-centric conceits of "Oblivion," not to mention countless other future-set films that find novelty in making familiar surroundings threatening. Will Smith's presence, not just as co-star but as originator of the story, seems likely to carry box office receipts beyond the benchmark of Shyamalan's previous picture, the wretched "The Last Airbender," but those hoping for a franchise should navigate elsewhere.

Our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution say the United States of America is a sovereign nation. Well, the UN and our progressive pols have other ideas.

If you grew up in the early 90s, you probably remember an animated feature from 20th Century Fox called “FernGully: The Last Rainforest.” It was the environmentally-conscious movie every 90s kid saw, and yet, nobody really liked. The film’s intentions might have been good, but even the youngest children seemed to find its blatant green message overly preachy. The fact that “FernGully” was lacking in any interesting characters or magic didn’t help. “Epic,” which was also coincidentally distributed by Fox, is a bit like “FernGully” if it had smarter, more imaginative filmmakers backing it. While it’s not a massive improvement, “Epic” is at least fun, energized, and subtle with its environmental themes.

Cera Hassinan is one of those people who makes others feel uncomfortable with themselves.

The Breast Cancer Society has announced a call for entries for educational scholarships to breast cancer survivors and their children. The Empower One Scholarship and Hope Scholarship programs assist those who have been affected by breast cancer with obtaining a college degree or trade certificate.

I’d like to thank Bryan Brinkley (“Richardson’s arguments are absurd,” AFN May 3) for taking the time to respond to the “absurd” arguments in my many gun control articles.

When my wife and I tried to park in the designated visitor parking area at Sen. Jeff Flake’s Phoenix office recently, we were told by security to leave or our car would be towed. When we questioned this, as we were there to join with others to hold him accountable for his vote against universal background checks for gun purchases, we were told parking there was for office tenants only. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, security people began blocking all entrances to the parking lot with pick-up trucks and chains.

Joss Bates was dropped off at his Ahwatukee home last weekend to find 114 notes hanging around his front yard, displaying quotes, words of comfort, love and encouragement written on them from friends and family.

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.

The Greater Phoenix Pond Society is bringing its Phoenix Pond Tour to the Valley, highlighting a couple of homes in Ahwatukee Foothills this weekend.

Ahwatukee resident Michael Feyrer subscribes to the philosophy that his life is like a pair of shoes — to be worn out in service.

A group of Ahwatukee residents are preparing to hit the road and terrain of the Verde Valley north of Phoenix next weekend.

According to the majority of the media and most of our elected officials we are not supposed to judge all Muslims by the acts of a few “crazies.” But the acts of a few American “crazies” are enough to judge all Americans who own guns.

Bill Richardson’s views on the gun control debate get a frequent and wide airing in the AFN. Unfortunately, his arguments against stronger gun laws are absurd.