Mesa’s Red Mountain High School finished fourth overall in its first U.S. Academic Decathlon last week.

This weekend downtown Chandler will be piled high with more than 20,000 pounds of BBQ at the Great American Barbeque and Beer Festival. The roster of restaurants dishing up ribs, brisket, pulled pork and chicken includes old favorites Famous Dave’s, Honey Bear’s BBQ, Joe’s Real BBQ and Tom’s BBQ, along with some newcomers including Porkopolis.

Mesa's Red Mountain High School Academic Decathlon team won the state competition, held Friday and Saturday at ASU West. The team garnered 48,408 points after competing in 10 events: essay, speech and interview plus seven written tests focused on mathematics, science, economics, language and literature, music, art and social science.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — In 12 years, my husband and I have had two vacations without our daughter. Once, we drove 200 miles to drop her at her godparents; the other time, her grandfather flew 850 miles on an $800 plane ticket to spell us.

When Bill Keller landed a store manager’s job with Dillard’s department store in the Valley 34 years ago, his wife, Dianne, said she wasn’t excited about moving to Arizona, much less Mesa — from Minneapolis.

DALLAS — US Airways CEO Doug Parker has landed the big merger he sought for years. Now the soon-to-be CEO of the new American Airlines has to make it work.

NEW YORK (AP) — They frolic in empty boxes and stick their heads under faucet streams of water. They dance on tippy toes and fly through the air with Pop-Tarts. They play piano wearing little frocks and get tickled to distraction to the delight of millions on YouTube.

DALLAS — The boards of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways could decide early next week whether to merge their two companies and create an airline rivaling the world's biggest.

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. — The four-legged member of the counseling team at the high school in suburban Chicago waits patiently, as a crush of students fills the hallways. Her tail wags with the first pat on the head, then another and another.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices accelerated in November compared with a year ago, pushed higher by rising sales and a tighter supply of available homes.

With its flagship piece — the Mesa Arts Center — in place the arts and performance scenes in Arizona’s third-largest city have been on the receiving end of some international acclaim of late.

From elaborately decorated trees to drive-through lighting displays to boat parades and train shows, a variety of holiday spectacles are being staged through the end of December and into early January around the country. Here are a few of them.

WASHINGTON — Home prices increased in September in most major U.S. cities, more evidence of a housing recovery that is providing a lift to the fragile economy.

LOS ANGELES — Roger Deakins is the rare person I was actually nervous to interview because I'm such a huge fan of his work. When I talked to the veteran cinematographer in early 2008, after he'd received Academy Award nominations for both "No Country for Old Men" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," I found him to be lovely and humble, with a dry and self-effacing British wit — which naturally made me admire him even more.

Some interior designers tout paint as the best way to change the look of a room. For Lisa Roberts, "It's lighting. ... It's more bang for the buck."

Valley Metro may increase fares valley-wide for bus, LINK and light rail in the spring as an attempt to preserve current service levels, Valley Metro officials said. The proposed increases are predicted to generate an additional $6.5 million in revenue for Valley Metro, which would fund about 3.2 percent of service.

WASHINGTON — Home prices kept rising in July across the United States, buoyed by greater sales and fewer foreclosures.

A group of managers is buying the Village Voice and all its affiliated free arts weeklies but is leaving behind the online classified site Backpage.com, whose listings have drawn fire for promoting the illegal sex trade.

MINNEAPOLIS — Warning: This is a story about online cat videos. If you're among the seemingly tiny minority of the general population not interested in watching a 1-minute clip of a cat in a T-shirt pounding on a keyboard, then move along.

NEW YORK — Drivers are being hit with the biggest one-day jump in gasoline prices in 18 months just as the last heavy driving weekend of the summer approaches.

OAK CREEK, Wis. (AP) — An unidentified gunman killed six people at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee on Sunday in a rampage that left terrified congregants hiding in closets and others texting friends outside for help. The suspect was killed outside the temple in a shootout with police officers.

The Phoenix Police Department’s communications bureau has met or exceeded the minimum training standards for the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International Project 33 Training Program Certification-2010 and has been awarded certification as of July 19.