Aspiring paleontologists can spend a night with dinosaurs at the Arizona Museum of Natural History’s “Roar and Snore with a Dinosaur” event on June 21.

Grab a light and take a stroll through the darkened desert, where a variety of manned "discovery stations" add to the experience.

Get voted a local landmark, and it doesn’t take long for people to start talking about you. The Salt River horses, which just nabbed the “Best East Valley Landmark” award in the Tribune’s 2013 Best of East Valley reader poll, will be mentioned in an “All About Wild Horses” question and answer session 6 p.m. Friday, June 14, in the Nature Center at Usery Mountain Regional Park in Mesa.

All About Roadrunners: Everyone knows roadrunners can outsmart dumb coyotes named Wile E., but have you ever wondered what else they can do? Ranger B will fill you in on all the details at the regular Brown Bag series in the Nature Center at Usery Mountain Park. Following the hour-long discussion, attendees can watch the snake feedings and join the Animal Flashlight walk at 7:30 p.m.

Learn about the dragons of the desert during this one-hour “brown bag” discussion with Ranger B. in the Nature Center at Usery Park. Afterward, participants are welcome to hunt for nocturnal desert animals during the 7:30 p.m. Animal Flashlight Walk.

Have you ever said “thank you” through clenched teeth? The gift in that nicely wrapped box was so not what you wanted: comfy clothes instead of designer duds, or a kitchen gadget instead of a shiny piece of jewelry.

If you’re among the thousands of Arizonans who will be using state highways over the Thanksgiving weekend, there’s good news about your travel plans.

Valley residents may not have to worry about hurricanes or earthquakes, but being prepared for an emergency — either individually or as a community — should be at the top of every resident’s to-do lists, public safety leaders said.

Hey mom and dad: Halloween’s not really all that scary — except when it comes to traffic safety.

Razors in candy, drunk drivers, smashed pumpkins, kidnapping, burglary and drunken assaults are just some of the crimes most worry about as Halloween night creeps closer. Since there are often rises in crimes such as theft, assault and DUI, it is important for both adults and children to be alert and stay safe this year. Fortunately, most cases of crime have decreased in Tempe on Halloween within the last two years.

Decorate a bed sheet at home and wear it for this quarter-mile journey through the dark desert. Usery Mountain Regional Park “Ghost Rangers” will judge the best child, teen, and adult homemade bed sheet costumes.

Michael Sestak does more than light up a room.

CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK, N.M. — There's nothing like bats to draw a crowd to the scorching Chihuahuan Desert in the late summer heat.

We are the nocturnal animals of the desert and we like to hide. Help Ranger B find us if you can!

Sometimes mixing sun and fun isn’t a good idea.

If you haven’t had your fill of fireworks this summer, the universe is inviting you to its own light show, albeit one of a quieter variety.

As the thousands of Sophias and Isabellas and Jacobs and Masons born this past year will learn when they go to pick up their backpacks off the soccer field or sort their duffels in college dorms, their names aren’t as unique as they are.

Mesa police arrested three juvenile males Thursday who admitted to burglarizing several vehicles.

Brown-Bag It: All About Bees: Bee natural, pack a sandwich and learn all about this tiny pollinator during Ranger B.’s one-hour presentation. There will be a snake-feeding immediately after and a free flashlight walk at 8 p.m.

The Mesa police bomb squad responded to a report of a suspicious device that turned out to only be a flashlight.

Mesa police are destroying a yellow flashlight that was discovered lying in the street at the intersection of Val Vista and Broadway late Saturday, raising concerns that it might be connected to a serial “flashlight bomber” from recent incidents in the Valley where people have been injured after discovering flashlights rigged to explode.

Take a self-paced tour of ten discovery stations along the main trail at Desert Botanical Garden, where you may see nighthawks, night-blooming flowers, toads, owls, snakes, scorpions and desert tortoises. Flashlights are not provided, so bring your own.

Happy birthday United States! The 236 years has put a bit of wear and tear on you, but you’re looking pretty good, and the millions of us who are blessed to be a part of you will toast to your good health today.

Bring your dinner and learn everything you wanted to know about scorpions at this brown-bag presentation with Ranger B. A snake feeding will follow at 7:30 p.m., with a one-hour, one-mile Scorpion Hunt at 8 p.m.