NEW YORK — U.S. airlines collected more than $6 billion in baggage and reservation change fees from passengers last year — the highest amount since the fees became common five years ago.

Whether it was emotion, momentum or just plain talent, no one would have been surprised if either Highland or Gilbert won the state boys volleyball championship on Saturday night.

Last year, each at the age of 11, Mesa youths Jagger Eaton and Trey Wood dropped in on the X Games stage as the event’s youngest competitors ever. This year, they’re joined by 12-year-old Alana Smith when they compete next week at X Games Barcelona.

The pendulum of momentum swung back and forth several times in the sixth inning of Thursday’s winners’ bracket baseball game between No. 1 Desert Mountain and No. 2 Tucson.

Recently I spoke out in support of a critical effort underway in Arizona: keeping the state’s rooftop solar industry alive. Like school choice and healthcare choice, solar choice should be a core part of the Arizona agenda, and my party’s message.

LONDON — Tesco, Britain's largest retailer by sales, is to pull out of the U.S., selling off its lossmaking Fresh & Easy supermarket chain after it failed to transfer its winning formula from the U.K. to the western states.

Robert Redford does his most compelling work in some time as both actor and director in "The Company You Keep," a tense yet admirably restrained thriller about a fugitive forced out of hiding after 30 years to prove his innocence. Adapted with clarity and intelligence by Lem Dobbs from Neil Gordon's novel, and lent distinguishing heft by its roster of screen veterans, this gripping drama provides an absorbing reflection on the courage and cost of dissent.

Tempe Police Department has been awarded an $80,000 grant by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, led by Director Alberto Gutier.

The burns on the 17-year-old girl’s legs will scar her forever.

Most people thought Clarence Clark was crazy.

D-backs plan to be more aggressive on base paths, but also more efficient.

All-Tribune First Team

The American Society of Newspaper Editors dedicate this week each year as Sunshine Week. Its purpose is to remind Americans that public officials must conduct public business openly for all to see.

Is America about to explode, is it a bubbling cauldron about to erupt? How much more deceit, betrayal, outright perjury from elected officials, media, and talking heads can be tolerated before the insanity becomes the catalyst for an event no one wants? At some point the enemy within shall be checked!

Republicans should get out front for once and lead the movement to legalize marijuana. It makes sense any way you look at it.

Arizona Department of Transportation officials say they've got a new message for motorists regarding dust storms that dramatically reduce visibility on highways.

Immediately following the December shooting at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, aggressive debates on school security, mental health, gun safety and the national conscience as a whole began to dot the U.S. political and media landscapes.

Known as a bulldog with a pedal-to-the-metal approach to prosecuting cases, Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Juan Martinez no doubt stumped Jodi Arias repeatedly throughout his intense cross-examination in her murder trial.

Although all of us go to the dog parks for our furry friends to socialize and have fun, I do believe SOME folks need a good bonk on the head. The dog parks all have little guy areas (for obvious reasons) and the big boy area. I hear over and over from folks that have a shih tsu size dog (10 pounds or less) tell me that “He really thinks he is a big guy.”

Ah, those first few minutes of a third quarter.

Where everyone else spent most of last January debating which team would be victorious at Super Bowl XLVII, I was busy trying to predict which movies would win big at the 85th annual Academy Awards. In many respects, the Oscars feel like a sporting event as nominees tirelessly campaign to win and award analyzers place bets on which horse will cross the finish line.

Dorian Pickens may be the most efficient offensive player in Arizona.

While a student in the 1970s, I was faced with caring for a project where black plastic was laid over an old lawn and the whole thing covered with bark as a low-maintenance, water-conserving yard alternative.