“OK, it can stop raining now, at least until the monsoon. I’ve gone through nearly two bottles of weed killer and I’d rather not have to buy a third.”

For a long time, two things felt as if they would always exist among Arizona Cardinals’ fans:

Desert Ridge did what it needed to do to beat visiting Valley Vista in the opening round of the Division I playoffs Friday.

It was good to get a few decent monsoon rain storms in the Valley this year, but that does not erase the fact that this has been one of the hottest summers on record. All across the West, it’s the same story. The drought shows no signs of subsiding. The Colorado River supplies water to tens of millions of people in the Southwest; it sustains a large portion of the nation’s food supply, and it draws tourists from every corner of the earth to sustain our economy. It is also shrinking. The river cannot sustain the growing population that depends on it over the long haul, unless we do something.

A spectacular first year as a full-fledged AIA member ended for Mesa Prep in a flurry of mistakes and missed tackles on Saturday in the first round of the Division VI state playoffs.

A look at key Queen Creek facts and figures

Caketini (2270 E. Williams Field Road, No. 114, Gilbert [480] 786-3500). Scottsdale has its Sprinkles, Gilbert has Caketini — a cute shop run by a family that’s been baking for generations. Sweet lovers will find gourmet cakes, truffles and massive, prettily decorated cupcakes. $

PHOENIX - Sunday in the Valley was a little chilly at 74 degrees. Hope you opened the windows and let some of that cool air in the house. We will heat up to 99 degrees in the afternoon.

Some of the most powerful Monsoon storms this season wreaked havoc on Mesa roads Friday.

Once again, the shelters at Maricopa County Animal Care and Control are overcrowded with cats and dogs who need new homes.

The Phoenix metro area is seeing an epidemic of Valley Fever after last summer’s massive dust storm and this year could lead to a high number of cases, too.

PHOENIX - Another round of showers and thunderstorms hit parts of the Valley this afternoon dumping around a quarter of an inch of rain over parts of Phoenix and North Scottsdale.

The Phoenix metro area is seeing an epidemic of Valley Fever after last summer’s massive dust storm and this year could lead to a high number of cases too.

Can anyone tell me why we here in Arizona have school start in early August?

I started loving the Queen Creek area years before I actually lived here. I heard stories about the wonderful times people would have when they would visit Schnepf Farms to pick organic peaches or visit the U Pick Garden, and the beauty of sweeping, desert vistas available only from trails in San Tan Mountain Regional Park.

Monday night, the Red Cross was responding to a Mesa mobile home park that was damaged during a powerful storm that brought high winds, hail and flooding to parts of the East Valley.

In the 1990s, it seemed concern for the ozone layer was everywhere, leading to plenty of studies on skin cancer and environmental worries. Now, it seems every week an ozone warning is issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

The Mistake Peak Fire in Tonto National Forest has grown to 1,700 acres and is 15 percent contained.

Monsoon moisture is moving back into the state, but excessive heat will still continue to bake the valley this weekend.

The “mild” temperatures of July — during what weather officials have described as a more active monsoon compared to the last two years — might sound similar to the old Alka-Seltzer commercial: “Oh, what a relief it is.”

The humidity levels are over 20 percent and the monsoons we have come to love are starting to roll through our evening skies—it must be back to school time in the Valley of the Sun!

PHOENIX (AP) — Another dust storm and monsoon blew through the Phoenix metropolitan area and flooded some streets in Anthem and along Interstate 17.

An elderly East Valley man died this month after contracting West Nile Virus, becoming the first human fatality of the year from this disease.