June 25, 2004

Behind shady trees on Craftsman Court sits a charming brick building being eyed as Scottsdale’s downtown visitors center.

While the ancient Hohokam settled into villages across the Salt River Valley, it was a temple mound in present-day Mesa that they chose as one of their most important cultural centers.

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK — The visitor center at Grand Canyon National Park is growing.

Energy from the sun will soon provide some of the electricity at the Grand Canyon Visitors Center.

Some Valley hospitals, including Chandler Regional Medical Center and Cardon Children’s Medical Center in Mesa, still have visitor restrictions in place. Restrictions started earlier than usual — back in August — for many facilities because of the H1N1 virus.

Visitor restrictions have begun at Mesa’s Banner Desert Medical Center and Cardon Children’s Hospital to protect patients from outside illness. Unlike last year, there are no age restrictions except in the neonatal intensive care unit, said spokeswoman Lindsay Butler Carrillo. Signs will be posted at entrances to the hospitals reminding visitors not to go into patient areas if they show signs of illness.

Winter sun-seekers, buoyed by a rebounding economy, appear to be flocking back to the East Valley in stronger numbers than last year, according to many RV and mobile home parks that host seasonal residents from colder climates.

Their looming RVs lumber across the American frontiers, sometimes headed to rallies of Christian RVers. They’ll sing songs like “I’m Not Perfect, but I Can Say I Am Saved.”

You can tour an ancient ruin without leaving town on Saturday.

At the age of 93, Sam Lewis still gets emotional about his grandparents’ former property in west Mesa — the one he and his family knew as home in the 1920s, long after the ancient Hohokam lived there.

Mesa is holding a public meeting July 31 to share plans for a visitors center that will open this fall at the Mesa Grande ruins. City staff will outline plans and renderings for the project and parking at the site, which is west of the intersection of Country Club Drive and Brown Road.

As Mesa’s pioneers scouted their new home, one of their most striking discoveries was a mound larger than a football field that was the cultural center of the ancient Hohokam.

NEWPORT, R.I. -- The Touro Synagogue was barely 25 years old when George Washington offered a vision of religious tolerance in a letter he sent its congregants.

Phoenix Children's Hospital began respiratory virus visitor restrictions Monday. Each year hospitals use visitor restrictions when respiratory viruses like influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) become more common.

Hip, young people hanging out at the Mesa Arts Center — yes, the same Mesa Arts Center that’s playing host to septuagenarian crooner Pat Boone in April. You can stop laughing.

A new partnership between Phoenix Parks and Recreation, Arizona Game and Fish, Liberty Wildlife and REI is offering residents and visitors to South Mountain a deeper look at what makes South Mountain Preserve special.

FARMINGTON, N.M. — Big changes are coming to the Four Corners Monument as crews turn it into a more tourist friendly place.

A fuzzy white circle emerged from a dark and overcast sky as 12-year-old Paul Karam peered into the lens of Gilbert’s Salt River Project telescope at the Riparian Institute. It was Uranus, a planet made of gas. Just moments before, the Mesa boy had pointed to the sky, and asked, “Dad, look! Is that Mars or

More than 265,000 people visited the new $98 million Mesa Arts Center during its first year of operation, and 60 percent of those came from communities other than Mesa, according to figures released by the center Thursday.

More than 265,000 people visited the new $98 million Mesa Arts Center during its first year of operation, and 60 percent of those came from communities other than Mesa, according to figures released by the center Thursday.