The weather is cooling down, the mosquitoes are quelling and the days spent in the backyard swimming pool may be less frequent. But that doesn’t mean it is safe to stop adding chemicals to pool water, balancing its pH and running the water pump.

Facing an $8 million budget deficit and a large drop in sales tax revenues, Tempe officials have agreed to move forward with a money-saving unification plan that would allow Valley Metro’s Regional Public Transportation Authority to operate Tempe’s buses under one service contract as early as July 1, 2013.

As the U.S. economy emerged from a deep recession more than two years ago, Faye Taylor found herself living in Chandler without a job, riding her bike to Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank on Arizona Avenue each month to pick up two large bags of groceries.

At Cardon Children’s Medical Center in Mesa, parents of hospitalized children can be found spending nights on pull-out sofa beds or on nearby chairs. But when a child is admitted long-term, family members wanting to stay close usually have to find a nearby hotel room or commute 20 miles one way into Phoenix to stay at one of two Ronald McDonald Houses.

Arizona United Blood Services needs about 300 people to donate blood, with a particular need for donors with O-negative blood types, on Nov. 10 as Thanksgiving gets closer and people get busier. “Once people get into their holiday activities many things take precedence over donating blood for many people,” said Sue Thew, United Blood Services spokeswoman.

In early results, Tempe voters were passing all three city bonds on the ballot, including $10.5 million to fund a dam replacement in Tempe Town Lake, according to unofficial general election results.

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.

Visiting Pixar Animation Studios in Northern California has been a longtime dream of two young filmmakers from the East Valley.

Facing revenue shortages, Valley Metro is considering a possible increase of bus, LINK and light rail fares that could affect the entire Valley as early as March 1, 2013, and a public hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Phoenix for Valley residents to provide input.

Facing revenue shortages, Valley Metro is considering a possible increase of bus, LINK and light rail fares that could affect the entire Valley as early as March 1, 2013, and a public hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Phoenix for Valley residents to provide input.

For much of his tenure as Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio has cultivated a brazen, no-nonsense image in front of the media spotlight. But under his tough-guy exterior, Arpaio is human, and even cries, said Dan DeVivo, a filmmaker who followed the sheriff currently up for reelection around with a video camera for nearly four years.

Some San Tan Valley residents have had concerns about Johnson Utilities before, but the latest situation involving a recent E.coli scare has left a number of them swearing off tap water for good.

Johnson Utilities, the water provider for the San Tan Valley area of northeastern Pinal County, was found to have violated multiple environmental regulations in regard to its handling of an August E.coli scare, according to a notice given to the company by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality on Oct. 9.

A trio of bond questions have been added by the City of Tempe to its upcoming Nov. 6 general election ballot.

After five strikes, 6-year-old JayC bunted the ball and stood still on home plate. The crowd cheered and yelled for him to run, and after some gentle one-on-one coaxing -- off he went. Three outfielders waited for him at first base, but with an enthusiastic high five, JayC was deemed safe.

In the cool cover of night, R.E. Wall and Margaret Dewar stand on scaffolding, brushing paint on the side of a store on Mesa Main Street. When the sun comes up, they put their paints away and crawl into their own one bedroom — the back of an old work truck parked out back — and sleep through the heat of the day.

Arizona has been near the bottom of national education rankings for years. The National Education Association has Arizona ranked at 48th in spending per student, and according to a recent report by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Arizona has had the largest drop among the 50 states in education funding since 2008.

Three acoustic guitar players spread out along Mill Avenue and strummed melodies Friday night. In most aspects, it was a typical weekend night for the buskers, but this time they didn’t have to compete with amplified bands or drumming to be heard.

Skydivers floated around Gilbert Town Hall streaking the sky with comet trails, fireworks burst above plastic models of historic buildings and national monuments, red and blue balloons occasionally floated above the crowd, and London-born singer Alex Boyè, who became a U.S. citizen this year, sent the crowd into a screaming frenzy with his theme of world peace.

Poet Terry Hummer reads prose and plays saxophone. Musician Billy Cioffi sings Hummer’s words and strums his guitar. Backup singers melodically chime in — all to create the soulful ambiance evident in the television episode “The AmeriCamera Project,” where Hummer and Cioffi fuse poetry with rock ‘n’ roll.

The East Mississippi Correctional Facility called. Prisoner Lloyd “Blackie” Cork wants to meet his victim’s granddaughter, Yvette Johnson. Cork is classified as criminally insane, and this scares Johnson. Nonetheless, the Ahwatukee mother is traveling to Mississippi to meet the man in October.

The East Mississippi Correctional Facility called. Prisoner Lloyd “Blackie” Cork wants to meet his victim’s granddaughter, Yvette Johnson. Cork is classified as criminally insane, and this scares Johnson. Nonetheless, the Ahwatukee mother is traveling to Mississippi to meet the man in October.