ATHENS, Greece - In an upset as historic as it was inevitable, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and the rest of the U.S. basketball team lost 92-73 to Puerto Rico on Sunday, only the third Olympic loss ever for America and its first since adding pros.

People gathered at Folley Park in Chandler Saturday to commemorate something not often taught in school. The Juneteenth celebration serves to remind people about June 19, 1865.

People gathered at Folley Park in Chandler Saturday to commemorate something not often taught in school. The Juneteenth celebration serves to remind people about June 19, 1865.

Just about any visitor who passes the rambling, twostory, red-brick former seat of Pinal County can grasp how this old courthouse links modern Florence with Arizona’s emergence from a Wild West territory into our nation’s 48th state.

Carl Hayden: Hayden is arguably the most important Arizonan ever. He began working in Washington, D.C., to secure water for the sparsely populated desert state in 1902 and became Arizona’s first congressman upon statehood. He was the son of Charles Trumbull Hayden, a Tempe founder, and helped transform the pioneer territory into a modern state. Hayden quietly worked on national parks, military affairs, Indian matters and was instrumental in winning the Central Arizona Project. The $4 billion CAP diverted Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson and was the largest, most expensive water project in U.S. history. His 56 years in Congress have been eclipsed only once.

Carl Hayden: Hayden is arguably the most important Arizonan ever. He began working in Washington, D.C., to secure water for the sparsely populated desert state in 1902 and became Arizona’s first congressman upon statehood. He was the son of Charles Trumbull Hayden, a Tempe founder, and helped transform the pioneer territory into a modern state. Hayden quietly worked on national parks, military affairs, Indian matters and was instrumental in winning the Central Arizona Project. The $4 billion CAP diverted Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson and was the largest, most expensive water project in U.S. history. His 56 years in Congress have been eclipsed only once.

Carl Hayden: Hayden is arguably the most important Arizonan ever. He began working in Washington, D.C., to secure water for the sparsely populated desert state in 1902 and became Arizona’s first congressman upon statehood. He was the son of Charles Trumbull Hayden, a Tempe founder, and helped transform the pioneer territory into a modern state. Hayden quietly worked on national parks, military affairs, Indian matters and was instrumental in winning the Central Arizona Project. The $4 billion CAP diverted Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson and was the largest, most expensive water project in U.S. history. His 56 years in Congress have been eclipsed only once.

September 5, 2004

The original tenant of the old Los Arcos Mall is looking for a home.

On Dec. 21, John McCain went to the Senate floor to address his colleagues about the end of a months’ long standoff with the White House over what the law should say about proper interrogation techniques for suspected terrorists in U.S. custody. Or did he?

Though not necessarily a new idea, the platform bed is certainly an unusual one.

Arizona and especially Tempe have lost a fine writer, historian and storyteller -- Dean Smith, the prolific author of more than 20 books, many of them specialized histories of our state.

August 10, 2004

More than 2,000 students from all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico, Guam, China and American Forces units in Europe, earned the opportunity to compete in the National History Day final competition in June. There were 61 students from Arizona. Three students from Mesa’s Red Mountain High School placed third nationally in for their group presentation titled “Integrated Altercation,” a talk about the Little Rock Nine and integration in Arkansas. Their program can be viewed at arizonahistoricalsociety.org/nhd/default.asp

The Arizona Museum of Natural History will host a March 8 event for home-schooled children at the Mesa Grande ruins. The program will feature the archaeology of the Mesa Grande ruins built by the Hohokam, who lived in the Valley from about 1 A.D. to 1450 A.D. Participants will visit the ruins, and meet archaeologists while learning how to work on an active archaeological site. The program is designed for multiple learning levels with a range of hands-on activities. It is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 8.

In order to understand Iran, we need some background. Dating to before World War II, Iran has attempted to balance the influences upon it from its neighbors, both Russia and the West. In 1941, Britain and the USSR invaded Iran to use Iranian railroad capacity. During World War II, the Shah (king) was obliged to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. At that time a relatively long-lived parliament had been governing Iran. However, its prime minister was assassinated in 1951 and was replaced by Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh whose selection was ratified by Shah Reza Pahlavi. Enormously popular, Mosaddegh nationalized Iran’s petroleum industry, leading to President Eisenhower’s authorization of Operation Ajax in 1953, the first successful open US sponsored overthrow of an elected, civilian government, Cold War Democracy in action!

March 24, 2005

Desert Foothills Land Trust leaders recall the mid-1990s, five years after the group formed. They were still struggling to set a firm strategy to preserve scenic open Sonoran Desert expanses in the Cave Creek and Carefree area.

“President Barack Obama has no intention of growing the U.S. economy; he simply wants to control it.”

The East Valley is once again playing a major role in the effort to fight wildfires in the state.

Their fortunes have been linked for the past three years. Today and Saturday, they will reunite at the pool where they’ve shared memories and milestones, as teammates and rivals.

The Defense Department's civilian leadership is weighing the creation of special military peacekeeping units trained to handle such problems as postwar Iraq.

Even though voters won’t get their say until March 11, the race for Queen Creek mayor is ramping up with three people vying for the seat.