While the scales differ, Mesa mayor Scott Smith expects several issues related to his roles as the head of Arizona’s third-largest city and the president of the United States Conference of Mayors to crossover.

Due in part to its popularity among the public, the City of Mesa is considering making the temporary four color-coded parking lots a permanent part of the downtown landscape.

Valley METRO will provide a Mesa light rail construction update 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Lo Fi Coffee, 105 W. Main St., Mesa.

WASHINGTON — Mounting scandals at the Internal Revenue Service are jeopardizing critical funding for the agency as it gears up to play a big role in President Barack Obama's health care law.

For more than 30 years, two words — “East Valley” — did more than anything else to put a vibrant, growing, destination-in-an-of-itself region on the map. Without them, this area may well have remained the land of Nod: A sleepy place whose residents do little other than shift positions every few hours.

5 Questions with RON BURNS

Don your beach gear and head to Mesa, where you can browse the local art scene, participate in family activities, listen to live music and enjoy after-hours shopping while noshing on ice cream and cool drinks from downtown vendors at this monthly art walk. Beach wear is encouraged.

What started as a simple service project five years ago, now serves hundreds of teens each summer — giving them a unique experience and opportunities to “blossom” in a number of ways as citizens and young women.

After considering dozens upon dozens of options, the East Valley Partnership announced its new branding effort for the region it calls home — a move that doesn’t stray too far from its roots, but also incorporates a more widely-known entity.

My approach to food is pretty simple. I firmly believe that if you can eat it, you can grill it.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont. — The website used words like "rustic" and "old-world style accommodations" for the lodge, but somehow I read that as "charming" and "romantic."

An upcoming forum organized by the East Valley Partnership will feature the unveiling of a new branding effort that could end up being the most significant campaign in the group’s history.

Even Madison Clarke’s mother is in admiration.

A recent arrest outside of a Mesa convenience store has drawn criticism from people who say Mesa Police Department officers appeared to use excessive force.

Family-owned and operated Little Mesa Café will host a pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 8 to support and help raise funds for 2-year-old local cancer survivor Cadence Schutter.

Going to need hospital care?

NEW YORK — The nation's biggest bicycle-sharing program got rolling Monday, as thousands of New Yorkers got their first chance to ride a network billed as a new form of public transit in a city known for it.

LAS VEGAS — The junked signs that attracted throngs to old Las Vegas have for years gathered dust in a neon boneyard just a few miles from the sleek mega-casinos on the Strip.

As development of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway has inched closer to a reality over the years, the proposed Pecos Alignment of the freeway has been most hotly debated because of the impending destruction to South Mountain itself. But many in Ahwatukee Foothills — on paper a part of the City of Phoenix, but ostensibly it’s own community of nearly 80,000 residents neighboring Tempe and Chandler — are also fearful of the state removing homes, businesses and a church to build the new freeway.

The search for a family-pleasing staycation just got a little easier, thanks to one of Chandler’s lushest resorts.

NOGALES, Mexico — A Valley woman held in a Mexico jail for a week on a drug-smuggling charge was freed and traveled back to the U.S. after a court reviewed her case, including key security footage, and dismissed the allegations.

We can’t deny it any longer — hot temperatures are here to stay. Fend them off with a syrup-soaked fluff ball of shaved ice.

Mesa Library offers free programs for kids of all ages to stay engaged with activities during the summer months. The variety of programs includes reading, bowling, art and music. The programs will take place at the Main Library, 64 E. First St.; Dobson Library, 2425 S. Dobson Road and the Red Mountain Library, 635 N. Power Road.