As teens enter the life-sized Teen Maze, they may not realize that lessons have begun.

Mesa leaders are asking residents to head online to lend their thoughts on the city’s transportation outlook — input Mayor Scott Smith says is invaluable to creating a plan for the future that suits changing philosophies.

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith took the opportunity at the recent state of the city breakfast to laud some of the city’s triumphs over the past four years, and to lay out a direction for the future.

After a number of scheduled performances — including by the Territorial Brass Band and state historian Marshall Trimble — Mesa’s recently re-elected mayor and city council members were designated to be sworn in Tuesday night at Mesa Arts Centers’ Virginia G. Piper Theater during a celebration hosted by local radio newsman Ned Foster.

Bit by bit, Mesa’s Fiesta District is being transformed.

Ex-Tempe City Council member Ben Arredondo is nothing more than a crooked politician who took advantage of his position of power for personal gain.

The Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce has announced nominees for the 2012 Palo Verde Business Woman of the Year and the 10 women are well known in the community for not only their business but their service.

Teachers from Mesa and Higley unified school districts have been named Arizona Educational Foundation 2013 Ambassadors for Excellence. Lindsey Connor, a seventh-grade mathematics teacher at Gilbert’s San Tan Elementary School in the Higley Unified School District and Nancie Lindblom, an American history and government teacher at Mesa’s Skyline High School, are two of the five ambassadors vying for the “Teacher of the Year” title that will be announced Nov. 14.

Once more, the parking lot was filled with cars and the smells of popcorn wafted out the shuttered Mesa Fiesta 5, only this time it was to celebrate a renewed life for the boarded-up building.

A construction project to widen Power Road on the Mesa-Gilbert border is about much more than adding a couple of traffic lanes to the busy thoroughfare.

Mayor Scott Smith knows west Mesa’s Fiesta District has seen better times.

Once more Tempe is catching front page headlines for crime.

A flurry of projects around Mesa’s Fiesta Mall are expected to begin within a year and have the potential to reverse the fortunes of an area that’s been stagnant or declining for years.

Mesa has a deal to bring a third college to its downtown, a liberal arts institution that will offer an accelerated degree program for non-traditional students.

Mesa is entering advanced negotiations to bring a second college to its downtown, following the January announcement that the city is working with Benedictine University to establish a branch campus.

It’s déjà vu all over in the long-standing conflict between Mesa and the owner of the long-vacant Fiesta Village shopping center.

Former state Sen. Russell Pearce will end the silence over his future Monday, at an event that suggests anything but a quiet retirement following a stunning recall that removed him from office last year.

The former chief operating officer of the Fiesta Bowl pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony federal conspiracy charge for her role in a fraudulent campaign-contribution scheme.