John Little, the leader of Scottsdale's downtown office since its inception four years ago, is set to be appointed acting city manager next week.

A Gilbert history teacher was arrested Friday morning at Mesquite High School on suspicion of two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and possession of marijuana, the day after the mother of a 16-year-old female student at the school alerted school officials of the possible relationship, police said.

The difference between regular season and postseason?

One of the few remaining family-owned auto dealerships in the Valley — Chapman Automotive Group — expects to reach $1 billion in sales in 2006. “We’ve been striving for several years to reach $1 billion and this year we feel we’re going to make it,” said David Bower, chief financial officer for the dealership.

It's Sunday afternoon around 1:45 p.m. and it's three-digit HOT.

OFFENSE

Mesquite boys basketball coach Tom Saltzstein admits that sometimes, when senior Isaiah Strong fires up a particularly deep 3-pointer, he can't help but cringe.

Three east Mesa schools, spread across two school districts, had to cope last week with a child’s death in tragic, newsmaking events.

The investigation into Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley is now in the hands of Washington, D.C., lawyers who have prosecuted assassins, spies and terrorists.

Bass Pro Shops plans to accelerate construction of its Riverview at Dobson store despite a pending initiative that could lead to another vote on the Mesa project, the company president said Friday.

May 21, 2005

May 21, 2005

A rash of drug-related incidents involving Gilbert teenagers in the past weeks — including two deaths — has reignited questions about how pervasive illicit substances may be inside local schools and the social circles of East Valley youths.

The Mesa High School boys basketball team won its first-round game in the Bishop Gorman Holiday Classic in Las Vegas, 60-31, over Elko High (Nev.) Wednesday.

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days” is conclusive evidence that every joke involving a public pool has been done to death. If there’s a little kid in the pool, he’ll unquestionably urinate and splash somebody. You can also count on the long-suffering protagonist at some point losing his swim trunks and having to dodge others in the nude. Then there are gags involving the pool being crowded with kids, being fearful of jumping off the high dive, navigating through the locker room, etcetera. Every adult in the theater will foresee these instances from a mile away. The targeted younger crowd on the other hand, will likely be caught off guard by these scenes and smile in glee.

Maybe it has to do with the lowered expectations surrounding something with "Dog Days" in its title being released during a traditionally less stellar time in the movie-going season, but the third installment in the "Wimpy Kid" franchise turns out to be not so wimpy after all.

The animated “Astro Boy” is a shiny hodgepodge of “Pinocchio,” “WALL-E,” “Oliver Twist,” “Gladiator” and “Superman,” with some obvious visual touches taken from “The Iron Giant.” As its own entity, though, it’s pretty forgettable.

When a movie is called “Flushed Away,” one braces for a little toilet humor. Fortunately, that’s exactly what we get — a little.

A bill to require that school districts establish an antibullying policy, which attracted national attention, died a quiet death at the state Capitol on Friday — the final day of national No Name Calling Week.

A bill to require that school districts establish an antibullying policy, which attracted national attention, died a quiet death at the state Capitol on Friday — the final day of national No Name Calling Week.

When Bill Keller landed a store manager’s job with Dillard’s department store in the Valley 34 years ago, his wife, Dianne, said she wasn’t excited about moving to Arizona, much less Mesa — from Minneapolis.

Ban Abdulghafoor did not expect to hear the voice of a Gilbert police officer on the line when she answered the phone last Thursday.

Lindsay Pian, 20, a Scottsdale native and Chaparral High School graduate, shot her way onto the 2007 USA Archery World Championship Team and 2007 US Pan American Championship Team at the two-day USA World Team Trials April 21-22 at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

Gilbert Unified School District officials were told within weeks of hiring Indira Dias that she was yanking and shoving her autistic students, and publicly berating her four aides.