LOS ANGELES — When Craig Haverstick approaches the beach with his dog in tow, Stanley instinctively knows he's in for a treat. His ears perk up and he starts sniffing the salty air.

A federal judge on Friday found the department run by the self-professed "toughest sheriff in America'' was guilty of racial profiling and ordered the agency's practices permanently halted.

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.

Westbound traffic on Brown Road west of the Horne Street intersection is expected to continue to be restricted to one lane until Thursday while street repairs are made as a result of a water main break. The westbound bike lane and sidewalk will remain closed as well.

Road maintenance activities is being conducted on forest roads 651, 580, and 899 over the next six weeks, 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. There may be some traffic delays during this time.

Greta Gerwig is one of those actresses you just want to have brunch with someday. Watching her in the irresistible new film “Frances Ha” (which she co-wrote with director Noah Baumbach), you get the sense that she’s one of those down-to-earth stars, like Jennifer Lawrence and Lena Dunham, that aren’t afraid to be a bit goofy and can spin even the most mundane topic into something worth laughing about.

An elderly woman crashed her car into a craft store in Mesa Tuesday morning, sending four people to the hospital, police said.

I have been using the Valley’s mass transit system for several years. Actually, I had to buy a car when I first moved to the Valley fourteen years ago because the mass transit at that time was close to non-existent. I moved from Denver where having a car is great, but not really necessary because the transit system is so good!

A Senate panel approved $82 million in inflation aid for public schools -- and then voted, in essence, never to give back hundreds of millions more that they've shorted schools for the last four years.

A lone, painted white bicycle sits at the side of Usery Park Road near Bush Highway.

My mother submitted a letter to the editor back in 2003.

NEW YORK — It's May. Memorial Day and the end of the school year are in sight. Suddenly, you're thinking about a summer vacation. A little advance planning — and some insider tips — can save you a lot of money. Whether you're booking airfare, a car rental or a hotel room, there are questions you should ask first.

Volunteers are needed for the Fourth Annual Southwest Ambulance Arizona Celebration of Freedom, the state’s “coolest independence festival,” held this year in downtown Mesa on June 29.

Work has started on a project to add a pedestrian bridge over Loop 101 (Price Freeway) in Chandler, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

“The richest American company Apple is going to borrow billions & billions to run the company, probably from themselves because you don’t have to pay taxes on borrowed money. While a venter worries about the homeless defecating and urinating in Mesa. When is congress going to stop these wealthy corporations from defecating and urinating on America.”

NAPA, Calif. — Love the lush and lovely Napa Valley but hate how expensive it can be? You're not the first. In the late 19th century, writer Robert Louis Stevenson moved his honeymoon to the rustic but free setting of an abandoned mining camp when the $10-a-week going rate for Calistoga hotels proved too much for his slender purse.

AAA is urging party-goers to include a safe ride home in their Cinco de Mayo plans. However, should a motorist have too many margaritas and find themselves without safe ride home, AAA will provide a Tipsy Tow. Service will start at 6 p.m. Sunday, May 5, and will run through 6 a.m. Monday, May 6.

It’s May. Memorial Day and the end of the school year are in sight. Suddenly, you’re thinking about a summer vacation. A little advance planning — and some insider tips — can save you a lot of money. Whether you’re booking airfare, a car rental or a hotel room, there are questions you should ask first.

Several freeway-improvement projects in the Valley will require closures May 3-5, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. Drivers are encouraged to plan ahead and consider alternate routes while the following freeway closures are in place this weekend:

FLAGSTAFF — Teeth-chattering. Axle-busting. Head-pounding.

A helicopter took off one recent Wednesday morning from Mesa’s Falcon Field for a nearly two-hour flight around Arizona.