Using their talents for hilarious, family-friendly improvisational comedy, Jef and Shurlin Rawls of Mesa hope to lift spirits while lightening the load for a family in their neighborhood with an event they are calling a “FUN-draiser.”

The Bistro at Kokopelli Winery will close on May 26, with plans to re-open in September as Crust.

“The Four Seasons,” a set of four 15-foot fiberglass sculptures by American artist and filmmaker Philip Haas, are on display at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix until April 28.

Gun rights

“What’s with the weeds 2 feet high along University Drive in Mesa across from CVS? It always looks like a dump site. Lindsay down by Broadway, same thing. Property owners and the city both need a good ass kickin’.”

Comparing her directly to Judas, the head of the Maricopa County Republican Committee blasted Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday for her bid to expand the state’s Medicaid program.

Growth and expansion over the last few years has made Banner Health the leading employer in the City of Mesa.

With a banjo, a guitar, an upright bass and a mandolin — and four talented musicians to play them — Yonder Mountain String Band’s songs make you feel more like you’re spending a day in the Alabama woods rather than the Arizona desert.

Online applications are available for the new Learn to Earn summer program sponsored by Mesa Counts on College.

America’s Taco Shop is dedicating a day to Phoenix Children’s Hospital with its second annual Carne for a Cause event on March 23. That day, 20 percent of proceeds from each purchase will be donated to the hospital.

Christ the King Catholic Church of Mesa will host its 6th Annual charity golf tournament and luncheon this Saturday that will benefit the only shrine in Arizona dedicated to those who are affected by cancer.

Just weeks after a 15-year-old collapsed from cardiac arrest in a Gilbert restaurant and was rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, he walked back into the hospital on a recent Friday to thank the men and women who helped save his life.

With an invitation that seems to resound with a hearty “All Aboard,” the Arizona Big Train Operators have announced their Annual Spring Open House Railway Tour. For the 2013 Tour, 22 members — including seven stops in Mesa, two in Chandler, four in Sun Lakes, two in Gilbert and another in Gold Canyon — will open their large-scale backyard railways for the public to view and enjoy.

“I see Mexico has the same problems with union management we have in the U.S. They are all crooks. The head of the teacher’s union was just arrested for embezzlement.”

Calling it a key to preventing mass shootings, a House panel voted Wednesday to require teachers and health professionals to report potentially dangerous people to police.

Five-hundred years ago, the Guarani Indians of Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia started using the plant Ka’a He’ê — translated to English as “sweet herb” — for consumption and medical treatments.

PHOENIX — The children buzz in excitement, boisterous and barging in, their little hands covering seemingly every part of the Australian shepherd’s body.

Through rain, shine and heat, crossing guards get children to and from school safely every day. AAA Arizona is calling for nominations for its sixth annual Crossing Guard of the Year Award. The deadline to submit nominations is March 12.

There is no drearier time at the multiplex than the first two months of any given year. All those commonplace horror flicks and mediocre blockbusters that studios have little faith in are mercilessly dumped into theaters, leaving us cinephiles to go see “Zero Dark Thirty” for a third or fourth time.

Enjoy free buttermilk pancakes Feb. 5 at IHOP restaurants around the East Valley in celebration of National Pancake Day. During the event, guests will be encouraged to make a voluntary contribution. Proceeds from Valley IHOP locations will benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital, which has a clinic and after-hours care center in Mesa.

Enjoy free buttermilk pancakes Feb. 5 at IHOP restaurants around the East Valley in celebration of National Pancake Day. During the event, guests will be encouraged to make a voluntary contribution. Proceeds from Valley IHOP locations will benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital, which has a clinic and after-hours care center in Mesa.

Naming herself after the provincial flower of Alberta, Canada, Loca Rosa is a performer with international flair.

Saying they are being crushed by the cost of patients unable to pay, hospital executives rallied Wednesday to back a plan by Gov. Jan Brewer to expand the state's Medicaid program.

The Musical Instrument Museum invites families to ring in the new year with a Junkanoo festival — a Bahamain street festival celebrating Boxing Day (Dec. 26) and New Year’s Day. Activities, including mini tours, jazz performances, story time and crafts, run throughout the day.