Gilbert residents Rick and Leslie Roman used to give shares of Boston Celtics stock as gifts to friends and family. The pair was always interested in company stocks and thought they made great presents, and it ultimately led to the couple’s first business venture.

The Valley sports media has been tripping over itself in lauding the hiring of new Phoenix Suns general manager Ryan McDonough, calling it a turning point and a ray of light for a franchise that has been in a death spiral during these past couple years of the Robert Sarver era.

The Bistro at Kokopelli Winery will close on May 26, with plans to re-open in September as Crust.

After a prominent wedding and event venue closed its doors suddenly last month — leaving brides and grooms stranded without their deposit money and without a venue for their big days — the community has come together to begin finding alternate locations.

I find it so routine, the negative comments regarding the recent “Mirandizing” letter to the editor. The comments as to which TV news reporting agency is the most biased is a banal and moot point which will never be put to rest. As are the comments about watching Law & Order, et al. Those readers have missed the issue; why isn’t the ‘suspected’ bomber being adjudicated as a terrorist instead of a poor Islamic refugee who enjoys blowing up his fellow citizens in the name of Allah? And yes, the shoe bomber was 2001; and again the issue was missed. That of, “Did the government learn nothing from it?” I sense people suffering political shame.

Finding good Mexican grub in this town is no problem; we could celebrate Cinco de Mayo once a week if pressed. But if you’re looking to do justice to this weekend’s other big almost-holiday, the Kentucky Derby, that’s a little more of a head scratcher. Here are three ways to indulge in the Southern spirit of the Run for the Roses, no big fancy hats required.

In the galaxy of big-screen superheros — a rather glum lot — Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man is the snappy one.

Horrible, the loss of three innocent lives in the Boston bombing! Then what word could one use to express the fact that between 158,000 and 202,000 civilians have died as a result of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan? It is understandable that the attack in Boston is a national tragedy for the United States. Our sympathies and prayers go out to the victims. But why is it that the loss of innocent lives in the Middle East has been hardly worthy of a second thought, if any, on our part?

Mesquite High School will graduate 446 students this year. Students have been awarded just over $6 million in scholarships.

An estimated 320 seniors will receive diplomas from Higley High School this year. The students have been awarded $5.5 million in scholarships.

BOSTON — The defense team representing the Boston Marathon bombing suspect got a major boost Monday with the addition of Judy Clarke, a San Diego lawyer who has managed to get life sentences instead of the death penalty for several high-profile clients, including the Unabomber and the gunman in the rampage that injured former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

It is now being reported the Boston bombing suspect was unnecessarily ‘Mirandized’ in the midst of the FBI interrogations from which the FBI was obtaining important intelligence re present and future terrorist activities. The question now is; did the attorney general’s Boston representative jump the gun by rushing a Federal Magistrate and lawyers to the suspects hospital room to ‘file a criminal complaint’ and ‘Mirandized’? By doing so it placed the suspect into civil proceedings which we find out is not a necessary decision at this time. It has effectively limited further FBI interrogation(s).

When one thinks of the Holocaust film genre, dramas such as “Schindler’s List” and “The Pianist” instantly come to mind for their harrowing portrayals of victims and survivors who suffered at the hands of Nazis. But what about the German survivors – more specifically, the children of Nazi war criminals forced to come to terms with the atrocities of their parents? This is a question posed by the exceptional new German-language film, “Lore,” Cate Shortland’s follow-up to her acclaimed 2004 feature “Somersault.”

“The great Obama is in charge of the sequestration. So what does this guy do? He goes to air traffic controllers and lays them off to cause the most inconvenience he can to American travellers. He could have gone to the nonessential personnel they always tell to stay home when there is a major weather event in D.C. This guy is a real piece of work. I can’t believe there are people that actually think he is doing a good job?”

Every time I am stopped by the police I tell them I am taking the Fifth and refusing to answer their questions.

Local entrepreneurs are in the final stages of getting their portable medical clinic repurposed from a steel shipping container sent to Kenya.

Once again it happens with sickening suddenness — a jolting shock that alters and cruelly mocks our assumption of “normalcy.”

“Finally, honesty from the gun control crowd. Their endgame is confiscation of guns which will have to include elimination of the 2nd amendment.”

A mob of runners and many well wishers flocked to Tempe on Saturday for the ninth annual Pat's Run to honor one of Arizona's finest and pay respect to the victims of Monday's attack on the Boston Marathon.