State senators gave final approval Wednesday to legislation supporters said enhances religious freedom while foes argue it will give people an ability to use their beliefs as an excuse to discriminate.

I am writing to discover if any of you will stand with practicing midwives of Arizona and the parents that use their services and oppose onerous restrictions on the practice of midwifery in Arizona.

This weekend, Chandler husband-and-wife team Chad and Erin Romanoff celebrate the one-year anniversary of their vintage silver food truck — The Uprooted Kitchen. Appearing weekly at Gilbert Farmers Market and Food Truck Friday in Phoenix, the Romanoff’s “restaurant on wheels” is a true gem found right in our own backyard.

“Why does it seem you only publish the partisan hateful comments? Are there no sane people out there who just want an honest government that will not lie to them or spy on them and not have to worry about the IRS harassing them just because they want to be left alone to live their lives in peace? Why must everything be about politics?”

The government can’t be trusted with our health

In February, elementary physical education teachers challenged 5,000-plus fifth-graders in Mesa Public School District to make healthy food choices and get more exercise for 28 consecutive days as part of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona’s Walk On! Challenge. Every fifth-grade student in the Mesa district had the opportunity to participate in the Walk On! Challenge, which was facilitated by the physical education teachers in each of the elementary schools in Mesa.

The City of Mesa and Arizona State University are partnering on a technology business accelerator site, to be located at the ASU Polytechnic campus, in the southeast part of the city.

Calling a woman's rights "unalterably clear,'' a federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down Arizona's nearly year-old ban on abortions at 20 weeks and beyond.

Families can learn about the effects of Alzheimer’s and receive encouragement through the Alzheimer’s Workshop held at the Mesa Main Library, 64 E. First St., on Wednesday, May 22 from 11 a.m. to noon.

Banner Health Center in Gilbert will open Wednesday for patient care. Staff physicians will include pediatrics, family medicine and internal medicine. There are 16 exam rooms, basic imaging and laboratory services available.

A unanimous Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has endorsed a $2.2 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, some $82.4 million lower than the county currently spends. The budget approved today is likely to produce a modest property tax decrease for Valley homeowners but also a merit-based salary increase for county employees, who have gone without permanent increases for five years.

Saying the Senate vote is not enough, Gov. Jan Brewer won't lift her vow to veto other legislation until lawmakers make more progress on her plan to expand Medicaid.

BOISE, Idaho — A dozen years after a customer revolt forced Monsanto to ditch its genetically engineered potato, an Idaho company aims to resurrect high-tech spuds.

‘They told me the window for my recovery had closed.”

Susan G. Komen Central and Northern Arizona supports Governor Brewer’s Medicaid Restoration Plan.

“Ann Kirkpatrick? Ron Barber? Raul Grijalva? Ed Pastor? Kyrsten Sinema? What do you think about the IRS harassment, Benghazi lies, and AP spying? He’s your President, not mine. You have been awfully quiet lately.”

Regressive thinkers like Paul Ryan and Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, who just had their invalid austerity facts exposed by three researchers from UMass, are running scared now. So scared, in fact, that they are talking CRAZY.

The Medicaid expansion plan approved by the Senate late Thursday is pretty much dead on arrival at across the courtyard, House Speaker Andy Tobin said Friday.

Gilbert Fire and Rescue Department will join fire departments Valley-wide for the first coordinated fire station open house Saturday, May 18.

In an historic move, a group of Republican senators united with Democrats Thursday to approve the plan by Gov. Jan Brewer to sharply expand the state's Medicaid program.

Gilbert teen Danielle Fisher, 17, has been named a finalist in the National American Miss Arizona pageant, and will compete June 30 at the DoubleTree Resort in Scottsdale for the national crown.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and this week is Women’s Health Week. It’s an opportune time for you (or the women in your life) to assess both your physical and mental health.

Calling the governor's proposal unacceptable and politically dead at the Legislature, House Speaker Andy Tobin unveiled his own new plan Tuesday to expand Medicaid, one that would give Arizona voters the final say.