Arthur Cyr: Honoring a campaign commitment, President Barack Obama has very slightly loosened very tight restrictions on interchange with Cuba. Cuban-Americans may now travel and send financial remittances to the island nation. Obama’s very cautious policy shift therefore is very timely, and may be the first of much more comprehensive changes, depending on Havana’s response.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says the state's economy won't be badly hurt if US Airways merges with American Airlines and the company headquarters moves to Texas.

There have been months of talks between Tempe-based US Airways and Dallas-based American Airlines, but now there are reports the two airlines are in the final stages of negotiating a merger.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Top leaders at American Airlines, US Airways, and their pilot unions are meeting to discuss a merger, one of the unions said Wednesday.

US Airways Group Inc. says it has a tentative agreement with negotiators for the union representing 6,700 flight attendants across its main network.

Full planes were good to US Airways in the first quarter.

June 27, 2004

DALLAS — The boards of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways have pushed back meetings to consider final plans for their merger, Associated Press sources say.

DALLAS — The head of the pilots' union says the latest delay in American Airlines' bankruptcy case increases the chances that the company will be taken over, presumably by US Airways.

February 17, 2005

Mesa is drawing a line in the sand against pawn shops.

There’s no such thing as impossible. That was the message actor and activist Louis Gossett Jr. had for Scottsdale students Monday at the eighth annual Youth Voices presentation at Saguaro High School.

What: I collect glass snack plates and cups from the early 1960s. Though there are many designs, I have a painter’s palate style with an etched glass design.

Heavy weekday traffic on Rio Verde Drive tells the story. Big trucks hauling cement, lumber, bulldozers, cranes and other construction equipment. Vans bringing electricians, painters and plumbers.

CHICAGO — A merged American Airlines and US Airways will carry more passengers around the world than any other, but even the biggest airline flying doesn't need eight hub airports on the ground.

Washington  --  A US Airways executive repeated assurances in Washington on Tuesday that the company plans to maintain a significant corporate presence in Phoenix after its proposed merger with Texas-based American Airlines.

The Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau has plugged in a new electronic service for tourists — an interactive kiosk that provides information on all things Scottsdale and Arizona.

KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO forces fought two large groups of militants crossing the border from Pakistan, and as many as 150 insurgents were killed, the alliance said Thursday. A Taliban spokesman called the report "a complete lie."

The Mesa City Council is using its political weight in an effort to ink a development agreement with a watersports adventure park developer looking to invest $250 million in the city’s Riverview area.

SANGIN VALLEY, Afghanistan - Hundreds of British troops swept into the lush poppy fields of southern Afghanistan Monday, drawing hostile fire at the start of a NATO operation to expel the Taliban from a valley stronghold.

DENVER - Bitterly cold air poured southward across the nation's midsection Wednesday, dropping temperatures to record lows from Montana to Illinois.

Mesa Air Group is adding the largest regional jet in the world to its fleet, a move the company expects will be help increase its share of business travelers.

Joe Monks, the owner of pilot-supply shops at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and Scottsdale Airport, can’t wait for the final segment of the Loop 202 freeway to open. He figures it will shave 10 to 15 minutes off the drive time between his two business locations compared with the more heavily traveled alternatives.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The government announced Sunday it will close all borders, extend curfew hours and ban travel across provincial boundaries as part of stringent security measures to protect voters during this week's parliamentary elections.