When it comes to improving our community and helping people in need, Mesa has no shortage of role models. That’s what makes Susan Carland’s selection for Mesa United Way’s Ross N. Farnsworth Spirit of Mesa Award so special.

NEW YORK — U.S. airlines collected more than $6 billion in baggage and reservation change fees from passengers last year — the highest amount since the fees became common five years ago.

“It was a dark and stormy night.”

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.

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.”

Picking up some fresh wines for summer is in the bag — or shopping cart, actually — as supermarkets get in touch with their inner sommeliers.

The great thing about the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum isn’t that it houses expansive galleries chock full of pieces of famous modern art. The great thing is that it doesn’t.

Fancy having Brangelina, Drew Barrymore and Dan Aykroyd over for dinner? No problem, they'll even bring the wine.

Finding good Mexican grub in this town is no problem; we could celebrate Cinco de Mayo once a week if pressed. But if you’re looking to do justice to this weekend’s other big almost-holiday, the Kentucky Derby, that’s a little more of a head scratcher. Here are three ways to indulge in the Southern spirit of the Run for the Roses, no big fancy hats required.

An eclectic group of four Valley women, the Heady Hoop Tribe aims to inspire others in the Phoenix area through the creative power of modern hoop dance.

Gilbert's Desert Ridge High School will graduate 580 students this year. Students have been awarded $7.3 million in scholarships.

"Mud" has the feel of a classic, although it's perhaps not enthralling enough to be one. The third and most elaborate feature to date from writer-director Jeff Nichols seems to have been adapted from a novel that doesn't exist -- something by James Lee Burke, perhaps, or Cormac McCarthy, or some other specialist in frequently violent tales about the challenges to masculinity and the forging of new identities that face rural people who belong to a sprawling modern world -- who might be hanging out in a supermarket parking lot one moment and falling into a creek full of deadly cottonmouths the next.

MIAMI — When you're talking about rum, how much does the Caribbean really matter?

Zaharis Elementary's Lemonade Club presented $414 to Academy Award winner, author and musician Jeff Bridges, international spokesperson for Share Our Strength: No Kid Hungry, last week. Principal Mike Oliver shared this story:

Zaharis Elementary's Lemonade Club presented $414 to Academy Award winner, author and musician Jeff Bridges, international spokesperson for Share Our Strength: No Kid Hungry, last week. Principal Mike Oliver shared this story:

It all began when a pair of friends shared drinks together in Greece.

One-pot chicken that is a blast of savory goodness

This one-pot chicken dinner by Kentucky chef Edward Lee blends a staple of Southern cooking — fried chicken — with two deliciously savory Asian ingredients, salty miso and a half pound of shiitake mushrooms. Together they produce a chicken that is tender and wildly flavorful with a thick sauce that is good enough to eat by the spoonful.

Just about everyone has them — family stories. Yours may be a sweet account of how Grandpa proposed to Gram, or only a whisper of something bad that happened that no one ever seems to want to talk about.