WASHINGTON — In the months and early years after 9/11, FBI agents began showing up at Microsoft Corp. more frequently than before, armed with court orders demanding information on customers.

There’s no denying that Richard Donner set the bar for the Superman franchise with his 1978 film. The icy landscapes of Planet Krypton, John Williams’ vigorous musical score, Christopher Reeve’s iconic performance -- every aspect of Donner’s movie remains definitive.

A pending sale to a new developer could lead to the demise of the barren bones of a project that has stood for more than seven years at the intersection of the 101 and 202 in Chandler.

A report issued by the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University indicates the recent upswing in home prices has come at a steady, sustainable pace, meaning homeowners should not expect another bubble to burst.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California state parks system, beset by financial problems and scandal, is launching a study commission that leaders hope will reshape the system and restore public confidence and financial stability.

Gilbert’s Higley Unified School District will file papers with the state Department of Education to turn its two under-construction middle schools into charter schools this fall after a 4-1 vote by the governing board Thursday night.

Some GOP lawmakers are threatening to torpedo the budget being pushed by their own leaders if $400 million in planned spending is not cut across the board.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Myrtle Beach, this year celebrating the 75th anniversary of its incorporation, is the heart of South Carolina's $16.5 billion tourism industry. Myrtle Beach is in the center of a 60-mile (100-kilometer) reach of beaches that attracts more than 14 million visitors a year to dozens of golf courses, hundreds of restaurants and tens of thousands of hotel, motel and other rental units. There's shopping at hundreds of stores and nine live entertainment theaters with almost 12,000 seats. But there's a lot to do for free. Here are five suggestions:

State senators voted Wednesday to ensure that if you like to hang your clothes out on the line you have a choice of new homes to buy.

Gov. Jan Brewer said Friday that Arizona no longer needs its 1-cent sales tax surcharge even though state spending, while below 2009 levels, still exceeds ongoing revenues.

The state Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected a bid by prisoner rights advocates, including a convicted murderer, to void a new fee being charged to visitors.

SEATTLE — It's hard to miss the enormous 20-foot-wide American flag on the side of Richard Ormbrek's home. Comprised of around 180 tiles painted with scenes of Americana against a background of red and white stripes, the flag pops from the orange cedar shingles with traffic-stopping audacity.

College students have spoken and lecture-based learning is prehistoric. An emerging trend on which colleges are reporting solid success rates is lecture-free classes. This approach to learning is being designed to promote deeper student learning, collaborative learning, skilled communication, self-managed learning, and cross-disciplinary and technology-enhanced coursework. Lecture-free classes are a response to growing criticism of the traditional, often passive lecture-based college classes which some educators say are a turn-off to students, leading to aggravation and poor grades.

When the school year ends a few weeks from now, millions of kids will head off to sleepaway camp for a summer filled with color wars, kayaking and bunk life. Most will have a great time, some will make friends for life, and many will look back on the experience fondly.

A unanimous Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has endorsed a $2.2 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, some $82.4 million lower than the county currently spends. The budget approved today is likely to produce a modest property tax decrease for Valley homeowners but also a merit-based salary increase for county employees, who have gone without permanent increases for five years.

Regressive thinkers like Paul Ryan and Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, who just had their invalid austerity facts exposed by three researchers from UMass, are running scared now. So scared, in fact, that they are talking CRAZY.

Using their talents for hilarious, family-friendly improvisational comedy, Jef and Shurlin Rawls of Mesa hope to lift spirits while lightening the load for a family in their neighborhood with an event they are calling a “FUN-draiser.”

Time marches on.