Pat Petersen bought a few fruits and vegetables from Greer Farms Saturday at the first farmers’ market at Bell West Shopping Center in Surprise. Petersen said she always has loved farmers’ markets and hoped one would open close to her home. This weekend the Surprise resident received what she wanted.

A new initiative drive seeks to provide gay Arizonans, denied the right to marry, an alternate option. The proposal filed Tuesday with the Secretary of State’s Office would create “civil partnerships.”

A ballot initiative that would strip Arizona restaurants and bars of their right to allow smoking has found some unlikely allies: the state’s restaurant association and a small but vocal group of bar owners.

A ballot initiative that would strip Arizona restaurants and bars of their right to allow smoking has found some unlikely allies: the state’s restaurant association and a small but vocal group of bar owners.

Members of the state’s largest business group want new restrictions on voter initiatives. The proposal, part of the 2006 legislative agenda of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, would require that statutory and constitutional changes proposed by individuals and groups be reviewed before they could start gathering signatures.

Arizona voters would likely reject a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages because it also would deny government employee benefits to unmarried couples, according to a political poll from Arizona State University released Tuesday.

Cave Creek residents will vote on three school ballot measures in November’s election. The Cave Creek Unified School District board on Wednesday night approved placing a bond issue, a capital override and a possible lease of school land up for public approval.

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The leader of a group formed to oppose a ballot initiative that would create six council districts in Scottsdale resigned Tuesday because of disagreements about the group’s political strategy.

An initiative to restrict Mesa’s ability to seize private property won’t hold up under state law, according to a written opinion Friday by City Attorney Debbie Spinner.

Arizonans Disappointed With Election Results (ADWER) — an informal coalition which until now was not even named — are back on the ballot this November.

Arizona State athletics officials announced Thursday the "Return to Camp T" campaign in hopes of restoring the longstanding ASU football tradition of training at Camp Tontozona near Payson, Ariz.

Mesa will kick off the first Building Strong Neighborhoods initiative of 2012 on Tuesday, focusing on the Desert Sands 1, 2 and 3 neighborhoods. The program will begin with a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the East Mesa Moose Lodge, 7402 E. Baseline Road.

On Dec. 7, the 70th anniversary of the attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal announced a new Arizona Department of Education initiative designed to help Arizona's children learn about their rights, roles and responsibilities as American citizens. The "American Heritage - Arizona Centennial Initiative" will help strengthen students' civic literacy. The initiative will launch in 2012 in conjunction with Arizona's Centennial.

Mesa’s next Building Strong Neighborhoods Initiative is set to focus on an area of Council District 6, from Broadway Road to Escondido Avenue and from Higley Road to the Roosevelt Water Conservation District Canal. The effort will begin with a kickoff meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Madison Elementary School, 849 S. Sunnyvale. At that meeting, the city will share results of a door-to-door survey, using the results to prioritize issues for the four-week initiative. The program’s goal is to increase awareness of city services and to create a more cohesive neighborhood. For more information, call (480) 644-5432.

Mesa is starting its next Building Strong Neighborhoods initiative this month, focusing on an area in the northern part of the city. The effort begins at 6:30 p.m. March 22, when the city will hold a kickoff meeting at Kerr Elementary School, 125 E. McLellan.

Preliminary sectional placements for the next two school years have been approved by the Arizona Interscholastic Association's executive board in a meeting on Monday.

Preliminary sectional placements for the next two school years have been approved by the Arizona Interscholastic Association's executive board in a meeting on Monday.