Looking for some help in the garden? Many of nature's most useful critters lie literally at our feet, underappreciated and ignored despite their ability to eliminate insects, condition soils and pollinate plants.

Earlier this week, St. Mary’s head coach Curtis Ekmark said his team’s toughest opponent at the Nike Tournament of Champions might be the fatigue factor following a series of final exams and a lack of practice time.

We race into the 2012 homestretch following a record-breaking Thanksgiving weekend, where blockbuster franchises like “Twilight” and James Bond weren’t the only ones to do gangbuster business. Oscar-heavyweights “Lincoln” and “Life of Pi” both exceeded expectations in wide release, while independent fare “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Hitchcock” saw decent numbers in far fewer theaters.

We may daydream of autumn’s changing leaves, but here in the desert, Phoenix’s holey red Papago Buttes are where it really starts to feel like fall. Desert Botanical Garden’s Great Pumpkin Festival kicks off Oct. 25 at the base of the mountains, and it’s a good spot to grab a pumpkin and snap a few fall photos.

Haven’t Americans (especially Arizonans) done enough to appease the illegal alien amnesty activists (either homegrown or from California)? The millions of dollars spent to defend our state, cities, towns, counties and law enforcement agencies from the Obama administration, the ACLU, Hispanic plaintiffs and others from enforcing U.S. laws about illegal entry into the country.

See the dragonflies, damselflies and Monarch butterflies that inhabit Veterans Oasis Park with a 30-minute guided walk. There will also be coordinating crafts and presentations at this free, family-friendly event. The last walk begins at 11 a.m.

The Dragonfly & Butterfly Bash, a family event, will be hosted by Chandler’s Environmental Education Center at Veterans Oasis Park from 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 29.

LOS ANGELES — Queen Elizabeth II became an unofficial Bond girl after parachuting out of a helicopter with Daniel Craig during the lavish opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Ahwatukee’s Independence Day fireworks celebration will be fired from its location at the Ahwatukee Country Club. Enjoy great food, live music and fireworks at the 37th celebration of Red, White & Boom! Presented by the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce, Red, White and Boom will be on Tuesday, July 3 starting at 3 p.m., and will be one of the most exciting events to hit our streets all summer.

You can learn to live a little bit greener in advance of Earth Day by attending workshops that share ideas like planting a garden to attract monarchs or learning how to save energy. The April 14 event in Mesa is part of the city’s monthly environmental forums, and this one focuses on nature with the arrival of Earth Day on April 22, Arbor Day on April 27 and Water Awareness Month on April 27.

NEW YORK - Kids LOL and OMG each other all the livelong day, but ask them to decipher the XLVI of this year's Super Bowl and you might as well be talking Greek.

NEW YORK - Kids LOL and OMG each other all the livelong day, but ask them to decipher the XLVI of this year's Super Bowl and you might as well be talking Greek.

NEW YORK — The Olympics, the centennial of the Titanic sinking, new rules on travel to Cuba, a once-a-decade horticultural festival in the Netherlands and increased reliance on technology and customization will all help shape travel in 2012.

Sometime next year, Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic congresswoman from Tucson seriously wounded by gunshot in January, will reveal whether she will run for re-election.

Students from the Gilbert Unified School District's Mesquite High School honors biology and ecology classes, along with volunteers from the Sierra Club, spent Sept. 17 cleaning up Rio Salado Park in downtown Phoenix. For three hours they removed tamarisk and buffelgrass, two invasive species that rob native plants of the water needed for survival. The repurposed park was once a dump. More than 200 migratory birds, along with migrating monarch butterflies, visit the park each year.

If you're into butterflies and diverse wildlife habitat, you need to check out Chandler's Veterans Oasis Park. The 113-acre facility - home to the Environmental Education Center, urban fishing lake, wetlands, a water recharge facility and police substation - received two top conservation honors this summer.

Taylor Morrison announced Wednesday the close of its sale to a partnership of investment funds for $955 million.

North American homebuilder Taylor Morrison is being sold to a private investment consortium for $955 million, top company officials said Thursday.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The British monarchy saga "The King's Speech" leads the Academy Awards with 12 nominations, including best picture and acting honors for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.

It’s going to be series business this holiday season at the movies. One of Hollywood’s biggest franchises is nearing an end. Others are returning after long absences.

When Ernest "Ernie" Banks rode into Mesa for the first time as a rookie to train with the Chicago Cubs at Rendezvous Park in the spring of 1953, he missed his stop and said he nearly wound up in Apache Junction.