Here is a collection of thoughts and stories from those who've crossed paths (personally or professionally) with former Higley district athletic director Art Wagner, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on May 15.

Jerome; Willcox; Mormon Lake

With the onslaught of Oscar contenders that debuted last November, there’s a good chance that a little-seen indie gem, “Starlet,” managed to fall off your radar during its short, theatrical run. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 SXSW film festival, “Starlet” explores the unlikely friendship between a cheerful, aspiring actress (played by the winsome Dree Hemingway) and a cantankerous, elderly widow (the late Besedka Johnson).

Arizona's economic recovery is flattening out statewide, with job growth outside the Phoenix metro area for this year and next predicted to be anemic.

Tempe police say a high school senior told police that an improvised explosive device found in the student's home was made by him years ago.

I have to admit that this column is going to have few readers. For one thing, here is the only mention it will have of the name Jodi Arias. That’s it. Sorry.

NAPA, Calif. — Love the lush and lovely Napa Valley but hate how expensive it can be? You're not the first. In the late 19th century, writer Robert Louis Stevenson moved his honeymoon to the rustic but free setting of an abandoned mining camp when the $10-a-week going rate for Calistoga hotels proved too much for his slender purse.

Time for a confession. As a child, I never once celebrated Mother's Day. My parents thought the holiday was nothing more than a cheesy excuse to sell greeting cards, and who was I to argue?

FLAGSTAFF — Teeth-chattering. Axle-busting. Head-pounding.

Lo-Lo's famous Phoenix restaurant is the inspiration behind a delicious potato chip, and you can help put those chips in stores around the country.

New unemployment numbers released Thursday suggest the state's economic recovery is weakening.

It was no surprise a 20-year-old man was arrested over the weekend for stabbing another man at the Country Thunder music festival in Pinal County. News reports tell of an argument escalating into violence. I’d bet excessive and criminal alcohol consumption played a part in this crime.

The Tempe City Council is the next in Arizona to take on the issue of civil unions for same-sex couples.

“Mr. Basha used to be a neighbor of mine, although I did not know immediately know it. My son, about 13, came home one day from carousing in the neighborhood. I asked where he had been. He replied ‘we were at Eddie’s house playing tennis.’ You know where this story is headed. It was Eddie Basha. He was like that, a kind man who was for the kids. Needless to say, I did not mind my son going there to play tennis. R.I.P. Mr. Basha.”

Arizona’s unemployment rate came down slightly, going from 8 percent in January to 7.9 percent in February.

A colleague of mine quipped the other day that the only religion he believes in is his own. “Sure,” I countered. “You piously believe in your own opinion.”

As it gains more and more attention on the regional, national and international stages, Mesa Arts Center is fast becoming mecca for artists from all over.

SIERRA VISTA — A former mining community in rural southern Arizona that has shifted over the years into an artists' haven and tourist destination is poised to become the first city in this conservative state to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples.

The Grand Canyon, copper, and Arizona's history will be celebrated Saturday as the Southeast Regional Library hosts a "living museum" event 1 to 4 p.m.

Setting bold new standards for digital searches, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that customs agents need "reasonable suspicion'' a crime has occurred before delving into the hidden files on someone's computer.

"Oz the Great and Powerful" aims for nostalgia in older viewers who grew up on "The Wizard of Oz" and still hold the classic dear while simultaneously enchanting a newer, younger audience. It never really accomplishes either successfully.

I made sushi at home the other day for the first time ever. And it didn’t go that badly, surprisingly. I wouldn’t have thought so just 24 hours earlier.

An Arizona sheriff says he hopes a hiker has learned a lesson now that she's been rescued a second time while hiking alone in the rugged Superstition Mountains.