Debbie Frazier wants her two children to grow up appreciating the outdoors. So she introduced them to hiking before they could walk.

LOS ANGELES — Isabella Rossellini's search for the meaning of maternal instinct in "Mammas" looks at nine animals where things like polygamy, lying and dying convince her that "anything goes."

Soar into Spring Kite Festival; Fiesta de la Primavera; Prescott Highland Games; Payson Wildlife Fair

Taylor Hatch of Mesa is the latest early-bird prize winner in Mesa United Way’s Happiest Sweepstakes on Earth - two rounds of golf and a golf cart rental at Leisure World. Earlier winners include Monica Alcantar of Gilbert, a one-night stay for two plus continental breakfast at the Hilton Phoenix / Mesa; Jeffry Westerhaus of Glendale, four movie passes and a Carrabba’s gift card; and Dawn Dubry of Phoenix, a $100 Westcor mall gift card.

About 400 graduates will receive diplomas this year from Mesa's Skyline High School.

Perhaps to alleviate the dreariness of long northern winters, Scandinavian style tends toward folk-art florals, crisp checks, plaids and stripes, and wood furniture left natural or painted in colors that evoke the region's natural beauty.

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.

SAN DIEGO — La Jolla's jagged coastline is strictly protected by environmental laws to ensure the San Diego community remains the kind of seaside jewel that has attracted swanky restaurants, top-flight hotels and some of the nation's rich and famous, including billionaire businessman Irwin Jacobs and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Mesa United Way is inviting residents to make a donation to its Community Chest and enter “The Happiest Sweepstakes on Earth!” to win a Disneyland vacation and other prizes.

Between the two of them, filmmakers Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel have explored sheepherding in Montana, auto shops and junkyards in Queens and most recently, the fishing industry in the North Atlantic. Their experimental documentary “Leviathan” is both visceral and gritty, in no way spoon-feeding its audience information, but rather, completely immersing them in the gruesome, often dangerous environment aboard a commercial fishing liner.

For a time many years back, I would become nervous every time I went out to my garden to weed. The weeds were so few that I feared something was wrong with the soil.

Desert Rivers Audubon, which hosts monthly nature programs for families in Gilbert and Chandler, will give outdoors enthusiasts a primer on using smart phones to connect with nature.