For the past two years, the Husband and Wife Law Team serious injury lawyers Mark and Alexis Breyer of Ahwatukee has been sponsoring their own Teacher Appreciation Program, awarding one lucky teacher each month $250 for use in their classroom or how they wish. Their latest winner is Mr. Vico Guerrero of Kyrene de la Sierra Elementary School.

Desert Vista High School students this week presented a near-complete application for teacher evaluations to be rolled out in the fall, a project more than a year in the making.

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.

The scenes were about 20 miles and three hours apart on Thursday, but nonetheless felt much the same.

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).

Arizona's economic recovery is flattening out statewide, with job growth outside the Phoenix metro area for this year and next predicted to be anemic.

Pippa can be a bit shy when she meets new people but with a little bit of time, this little gal opens up to show her peppy, loving and cuddly personality. She has flourished into a sweet, bubbly dog. She loves to play ball with her foster brother and go on walks. One of her favorite activities is playing with toys. Pippa loves to pull all the toys out of the toy box and hide various ones around the house. She’s looking for a home with another young, active, dog that she can play with. Another canine friend also gives Pippa confidence and makes for a great snuggle buddy. Pippa has become quite the ball chaser in foster care as well. She’s looking forward to continuing to hone her ball skills in her new home. Pippa is looking for a patient home that will understand that she is initially shy with new folks, but that with patience she comes around. Daily walks, plenty of snuggle time and lots of toys are all on this little girl’s wish list.

Along with Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Iron Man 3” is one of the rare superhero threequels that doesn’t disappoint. While Jon Favreau remains an executive producer and co-star, he passes on the directorial duties to Shane Black of “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” Black maintains all the action, humor, and character development that made Faverau’s first two films so enjoyable, while also incorporating his own unique signature. His film continues to raise the stakes and pushes its characters to their critical limits. In addition, “Iron Man 3” makes some hilarious commentary on the media’s role in terrorism with several inspired twist. The result is the darkest of the “Iron Man” trilogy and, ironically, the funniest.

When Mountain Pointe volleyball coach Fred Mann stepped foot in the gym on Saturday, he knew his time with the Pride might be coming to a close.

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.

If you watch the trailer for “Renoir” – a new period drama from French filmmaker Gilles Bourdos – a variety of adjectives are bound to come to mind: conventional, humdrum, lackluster. Sure, they’re trying to sell the story of one of the all-time great painters in a mere two minutes, but nothing about it grabs your attention – let alone, compels you to sit through the actual film. Luckily, this is not exactly the case for the movie itself, which is exquisite to look at but unfortunately devoid of any real insight into Pierre-Auguste Renoir. You come wishing to learn about the artist and his work, but instead leave dwelling on the film’s more engaging supporting characters.

Connecting to Serve and the Ahwatukee Community Network would like to extend our gratitude to our panelists and the victims of domestic violence who attended our special forum on this serious issue April 16 at Mountain Park Senior Living.

Ryan Tolman loves the fact that his team has shown the ability to comeback; he just wishes they didn’t have to do it so often.

It has been three years since members of the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team (SMCAT) got together, but on Monday the group will reconvene to discuss air quality before the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS).

"42” is far from the first movie to explore racial tensions in sports. We’ve seen this subject depicted in other good films like “Remember the Titans” and “Glory Road.” There are plenty of recognizable figures on display here, such as the underdog nobody believed in, the one man willing to take a chance on that underdog, and the ignorant antagonists that wish to see that underdog fail. Familiarity aside, though, “42” executes just about everything wonderfully. This is a good-hearted picture, carried by sincere performances and passionate direction. Not only is it an inspiring story about overcoming prejudice, but an all around rousing baseball movie too.

Jackie Robinson was the ideal class act to break the barrier and become the first black player in Major League Baseball.

One arrived before Rudy Valee and the other a year before The Beatles, but together they made beautiful music in nurturing a piece of Ahwatukee that spanned the decades between the roaring ‘20s and this year’s cold winter rains.

In “Wrong,” a movie playing through April 12 at Harkins Valley Art theater, Alexis Dziena plays a love struck pizza-shop employee who leaves her husband for Jack Plotnick’s sad-sack protagonist, whose canine's disappearance sets off a bizarre and unpredictable chain of events.

Coming soon to downtown Mesa: big changes to one of the city’s acclaimed all-ages attractions.

If you own a business, you may well follow a “do it now” philosophy — which is, of course, necessary to keep things running smoothly. Still, you also need to think about tomorrow — which means you’ll want to take action on your own retirement and business succession plans.

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

Rory is 21 pounds of pure goodness, happiness and love. Resisting his charms is pointless. One look into those precious light-colored eyes and you will be hooked. Rory is one handsome boy with such a wonderful and joyful personality. He loves everyone he meets — dog and human alike. He always appears to have a smile on his face and a wagging tail.

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.

About once a month my daughter and I have a very sweet daddy/daughter ritual that we have followed for the last six years. Typically on a lazy weekend afternoon, we drive over to the Ahwatukee Foothills Car Wash off Ray Road and when we get the car washed we grab a delicious, all natural fruit Popsicle. I tend to go with the piña colada flavor, especially in the hot Arizona summers when I like to imagine being in a tropical environment. My daughter tends to go with good-old natural strawberry and the little seeds are actually in the Popsicle. My daughter reminds me of this fact every time we go and I respond with enthusiasm and amazement as though this is new information.

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