To those people who are petitioning the Gilbert School Board to not raise their property tax by an average of $36 a year so there will be some minute chance for the employees to get any increase in pay, I say this: Who is your employer? How about we all petition the CEO of your company and beg them not to raise the price of their products so you can’t get a raise? How about we ask them to cut back and lay you off instead of raising their prices?

New figures show the state's economy continues to plug along.

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia abortion doctor was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder and could face execution in the deaths of three babies who authorities say were delivered alive and then killed with scissors at his grimy clinic, in a case that became a flashpoint in the nation's debate over abortion.

Arizona's economic recovery is flattening out statewide, with job growth outside the Phoenix metro area for this year and next predicted to be anemic.

A man was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday for his murder conviction in the beheading of a man in Arizona who police say had stolen drugs from a Mexican drug cartel.

NEW YORK — You can recycle your waste, grow your own food and drive a fuel-efficient car. But being socially responsible isn't so easy when it comes to the clothes on your back.

During the weeks preceding the formal unveiling of the ludicrously named Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2103, S. 744, the Gang of Eight authors dominated the headlines with their empty promises.

Dillie Nerios is a Florida food stamp recruiter. Her job is to sign up 150 seniors monthly in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The number of hybrid cars in the U.S. will triple by 2015, according to J.D. Power and Associates. This change in demand and technology requires a new skill set from today’s mechanics. The premise is that drivers around the world will continue trading gas guzzling, big-body cars for lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles that are easier on the pockets and the environment.

A Phoenix company is taking extra steps to make sure every employee is working legally here in the Valley.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton wants businesses in Silicon Valley to relocate to Arizona.

WASHINGTON — Americans are more optimistic the job market is healing and will deliver higher pay later this year. That brighter outlook, along with rising home prices, cheaper gasoline and a surging stock market, could offset some of the drag from the recent tax increases and government spending cuts.

U.S. homebuilders broke the 1 million mark in March for the first time since June 2008. The gain signals continued strength for the housing recovery at the start of the spring buying season.

Contracts that allow public employees to work on union activities on the taxpayer's dime are illegal, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled.

Local businesses looking to hire students are wanted for the Gilbert Unified School District's annual job fair.

The work by East Valley city and business leaders to prepare the area to be attractive to manufacturing growth was credited Wednesday for the move of a significant employer to the Mesa Gateway Airport complex.

Back in February, the Mesa City Council was predicting a budget shortfall of between $8 million and $9 million for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

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.

Hundreds of teachers at religious schools around the state could soon be at risk of being laid off with no prospect of collecting jobless benefits.

“With a labor participation rate of 63.3 percent, have the Democrats turned America into a third world country or a leftist utopia? Pardon the redundancy.”

NEW YORK — At the beginning of each tourist season, the entrepreneurs who pitch the thrill rides, hot dogs, sideshows and souvenirs at gritty Coney Island gather along its famous boardwalk to pray for two things: good weather and large crowds.

WASHINGTON — This may be the year Congress decides what to do about the millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. And this may be the week when a bipartisan group of senators makes public details of the overhaul plan it has been negotiating for months.

Maricopa County College was named one of the Valley’s healthiest employers by the Phoenix Business Journal.

“Those three seconds I took my eyes off the road changed my life forever.”