Earlier this spring, the We the People Team from Tempe's Marcos de Niza High School earned a spot to represent Arizona at the national competition in Washington, D.C.

East Valley resident and developer Michael Pollack was honored last week by Goodwill of Central Arizona as the organization’s 2012 ‘business partner of the year.’

Christine Ellis and her sister, Shella Michel, realize they may not be unique on this front. They love shoes.

The Phoenix City Council sped up job creation by months by passing a comprehensive policy cutting red tape on the private sector. By an 8-1 vote, city leaders said no more to delays, lines and bureaucratic red tape — and yes to faster job creation.

A Mesa eyesore is coming back to life. The vacant retail center on the northeast corner of University Drive and Greenfield Road once housed a Fry’s grocery, but the 100,000-square-foot site has been vacant and quiet for years. Come Nov. 4, the corner will be home to a new 38,000-square-foot Goodwill thrift store.

RedSeven is closing its computer repair shop in downtown Mesa, consolidating it with a Tempe location that is moving to bigger premises.

Scottsdale police Friday night announced an arrest in the hit-and-run death of a prominent East Valley commercial real estate tycoon's son.

A prominent East Valley commercial real estate family is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person driving the silver pickup truck involved in a hit-and-run that killed Daniel Pollack.

Michael Pollack, a Valley retail magnate, donated $250,000 to Goodwill of Central Arizona, the largest single cash donation to the group ever. Goodwill has 46 stores across Arizona and reported $60 million in retail revenue last year. One of Goodwill’s career centers can place up to 1,000 people in jobs and the company hopes to open a new center every year for the next four years, according to a press release.

Academy Award winner Sean Penn was in town this week. He did not come to discuss politics. He came to further hope, and to thank the thousands of Arizonans who have made contributions big and small to address the disaster that remains in Haiti.

If checking out the Christmas lights at Michael Pollack's Mesa office is part of your annual ritual, either forget about it this year or head to Tempe.

East Valley stores will be open earlier than ever for Black Friday this year as retailers seek every advantage to attract shoppers in what is expected by many to be another lackluster holiday shopping season.

What's been billed by the governor as an "unprecedented community discussion on Arizona's budget crisis" Thursday includes comments from only those chosen by the leaders of a major state economic development group.

Officials in Chandler want to merge two existing city programs to help reduce the number of older, mostly vacant retail centers and replace them with other types of development such as high-density residential or office buildings.

Shoe Pavilion — 6 stores. Mervyn’s — 11 stores. Linens-N-Things — 12 stores. Circuit City — 13 stores. Taken together, 42 large retail stores, commonly called “big-box” stores, are closing and dropping 1.8 million square feet of real estate onto the Valley market in the next few months.

LOS ANGELES - Friends, family and show business colleagues gathered to remember late Oscar-winning director, producer and actor Sydney Pollack at a private memorial service, according to a person with knowledge of the service.

LOS ANGELES - Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack, a Hollywood mainstay who achieved commercial success and critical acclaim with the gender-bending comedy "Tootsie" and the period drama "Out of Africa" while often dabbling as a television and movie actor, has died. He was 73.

The Hurricane is coming. Following several months of neighborhood meetings and city-level discussions between the promoters and concerned neighbors, the Mesa City Council approved development of a controversial nightclub Monday night by a resounding 6-0 vote, with council member Tom Rawles absent.

Will it be a raucous club that plagues a quiet east Mesa neighborhood with noise and crime, or one of the few places in Mesa where locals can grab a beer and sing their favorite karaoke tune?

The second time around has worked out so far for the backers of a beach-themed club who hope to draw 1,100 people nightly to Mesa’s eastern fringe to sip margaritas and sing karaoke.

Size is everything. The Tempe Center for the Arts’ first major event Saturday night, a black-tie gala culminating in a concert by jazz singer Natalie Cole, proved as much.

“That’s all right, Chandler (National). For two years in a row, you’ve made Arizona proud. Way to go, guys. Thanks again.”

As discount movie theaters become as scarce as rain, one such theater in Tempe not only is thriving but recently underwent $350,000 worth of remodeling.