School cafeterias – where thousands of East Valley students eat lunch each day – are going gourmet, sort of.

Miranda Lambert was just 19 when the Lindale, Texas, native was introduced to country-music fans on the debut season of the USA Network’s “Nashville Star” nine years ago. She finished third behind Buddy Jewell and John Arthur Martinez, but there is no doubt who has made the most from exposure on the show.

Miranda Lambert was just 19 when the Lindale, Texas, native was introduced to country-music fans on the debut season of the USA Network’s “Nashville Star” nine years ago. She finished third behind Buddy Jewell and John Arthur Martinez, but there is no doubt who has made the most from exposure on the show.

LOS ANGELES — A pig-tailed girl whose favorite accessory is a pink stethoscope has become a symbol of pride and hope for black women in medicine and the daughters they want to inspire.

Life hasn’t been kind to Loretta, a whippet/cattle dog mix. When AZ RESCUE found her, she had small scars along her legs and belly, and a bump on her left front leg from an old fracture that healed on its own because she didn’t receive medical treatment. Part of the tip of her nose is missing and her tail appears to have been broken at some point as well.

School may be over in the next few weeks for East Valley school districts, but food and nutrition departments don’t get any time off.

Lunch prices will rise for students in Mesa Unified School District next school year.

If ever I needed to channel Paul Harvey, now is the time. Since SB 1070, I don't think I have ever witnessed more false statements, misunderstandings and outright lies than I have with the school lunch opt-out bill. So with great respect for a radio legend, here is the rest of the story...

Mesa Sen. Rich Crandall says his legislation to let Arizona school districts opt out of the federal program that provides free and reduced-price lunches to needy students only changes one word in the current state law.

There’s that ring your grandmother wore. The outfit you had on the day you met your soulmate. The shoes that stuck fast in the mud when you and two friends made a break for it across a soggy patch of ground.

Loretta Damon was recently named the 2011 Native American Woman of the Year from the Phoenix Indian Center and the Arizona State University Native American Alumnus of the Year. Damon, program advisor at Mesa Community College’s American Indian Center, received the awards for her commitment to the Native American community and students. She was the first in her family to attend college.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will present the Arizona premiere of the international hit play “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” Jan. 3-8.

Arizona Broadway Theatre will present “Remember Patsy Cline,” a musical concert tribute to Patsy Cline.

Hunger doesn’t end when the final school bell rings.

Hunger doesn’t end when the final school bell rings.

"Jumping the Broom" suggests what it might look like if Nancy Meyers directed a Tyler Perry movie.

Banner Boswell Medical Center reopened its chapel this week, just in time for Ash Wednesday. The newly remodeled space, now a non-denominational meditation chapel, offers both patients and their families a quiet space to think and escape the busy hospital atmosphere.

Tyler Perry, whose name usually adorns the titles to his films, hasn't disowned his latest, the simply dubbed "For Colored Girls."

The odds of winning the lottery are what, like, 1 in 175 million? The laughs aren't quite so hard to come by in "Lottery Ticket," but they're not a safe bet, either.