Farm-fresh to chef

Karen Wilkinson selected some heirloom tomatoes Sunday at Grammy's Farm booth at the St. Philip's Farmers Market. Going to local farmers markets and becoming involved in community-supported agriculture programs are ways to bring fresh, nutritious, flavorful produce to the table. While it's s…

Arizona football: UA's gleaming new era

Here's a look at the new football field and facility from the northeast corner of Arizona Stadium looking southwest. The $7 million scoreboard behind the south end zone was installed in 2011.

Arizona football: UA's gleaming new era

The new FieldTurf surface and the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility, at right, are almost completed, with a dedication expected in mid-August.

Oro Valley kids have a blastoff

Carl Carlson of Mad Science sets up a rocket he is going to blast off as part of a hands-on rocket-science demonstration. The kids in his Oro Valley Public Library crowd stay well back.

Home Depot opens chance for local door firm's growth

Carlo Garcia tapes up a door at Tucson's Architectural Elements, which grew recently by acquiring Autumn Wood, an Albuquerque-based custom door manufacturer. Architectural Elements also has new exposure through Home Depot.

Go underground for a look at the past

Titan Missile Museum volunteer Bob Darcangelo explains to visitors the operations of the command center in the silo. Before the nuclear-tipped missile was decommissioned, a crew could launch it in under a minute. The museum in Sahuarita will have a special evening program this weekend.

Centsible Mom: Express yourself without depressing your wallet

Kate Gavlick, standing with the apron on, is an instructor in the Young Rembrandts of Tucson program. Here she teaches a free pastels class to children at the Santa Rosa Branch Library, 1075 S. 10th Ave. in Tucson.

Swim tips from champion pair

NCAA champion swimmer Annie Chandler monitors the lanes at the newly renovated and expanded Oro Valley Aquatic Center during the Fitter & Faster Swim Tour. Sunday's clinic gave kids the chance to work with two award-winning swimmers, Chandler and Olympian Matt Grevers. The aquatic center…

Big Band Bash unleashes big music

Director Doug Tidaback pushes the sound of the TJI Ellington Big Band in performance at Christ Community Church, 7801 E. Kenyon Drive. The band was just back from the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival in New York City.

Slowing down with bit of tai chi

Instructor Heather Chalon, front, guides a group through various tai chi exercises during a recent class at the Kirk-Bear Canyon Library, 8959 E. Tanque Verde Road.

nogales goes hollywood

A bench outside of La Cinderella on North Morley Avenue is the setting for a scene between Ken Jeong and Zach Galifianakis in "The Hangover Part III." Gregory Kory, whose family has owned the department and accessories store for 66 years, says tight border restrictions in place since 9/11 an…

nogales goes hollywood

Gregory Kory, who owns La Cinderella and Kory's, keeps some bridal dresses in a vault. The bridal and formal-wear shop is in a former bank building.

Dishing with the chef: Grill with an eye toward healthy

Cumin Crusted Chicken pairs nicely with a bowl of fresh salsa in a dish prepared by Alfred Beltran, executive chef at Harvest Restaurant. For summer, a glass of chilled beer would go well, too.

Tucson tech: Desert shrub guayule may be new major source of natural rubber

University of Arizona professor Dennis Ray shows guayule bushes at the UA agriculture center. The UA was awarded a $3 million, five-year grant by Phoenix-based Yulex Corp. focused on developing guayule for production.

Moms get some special attention

Jessica Vaughan and daughter Anna Vaughan, 3, share a hug at the Mother's Day Brunch at the McCulloch-Wagner American Legion Post 109. Anna had a flower for her mom.

Moms get some special attention

For kids, splash park is cool spot to cool off

Isaiah Orduno-Robinson, 9, gets in the flow of things at the splash park at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park. Four classes from Santa Clara Elementary School, in the Sunnyside District, enjoyed an outing to the park on May 7. Isaiah was with speech pathologist Louis Dachtyl.

For kids, splash park is cool spot to cool off

Mexico's consul general leaving after 9 eventful years in Tucson

Helping people like Rosa Maria Guerrero, back to camera, makes up a big part of the job for Juan Manuel Calderón Jaimes, the Mexican consul general in Tucson for the past nine years. He'll head home to Mexico City May 31.

Chamber music show takes on a modern note

The 20th Century Chamber Music Madness concert featured musicians John Snavely, on clarinet; Yvonne Creanga, on violin and viola; and Marie Sierra, on the piano. The performance was this past Sunday at St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church, 4440 N. Campbell Ave. Other musicians also par…

Couple dips into the smoothie business

Co-owner Jessica Burns prepares a yogurt smoothie at her Fruit Shack Smoothies & Yogurt, 10785 N. Oracle Road. Burns and her husband, Jared, acquired the business in late 2012.

Driveways with elegance

Tucson Asphalt Contractors Inc. did this driveway. It specializes in patterned asphalt, stamped to look like bricks or pavers and then covered with a colored epoxy layer.

Ozone a concern for local air quality

File: Dust and pollution in the air near I-10 and Pinal Air Park looking west with the Silverbell Mountains in the background Monday November 10, 2008.

Earth Day is a chance to learn

Rex Adams, a retired research specialist with the UA Tree Ring Lab, explains tree cross-sections to Pima Community College Northwest students Ylana Heinritz and Wesley Phillips at the event.

Reid Park's garden wins accolade for its blooming roses

Photographer Dawn Salisbury takes some senior-class portraits of Katelynn Welter, a Sahuaro High School senior, in the Reid Park Rose Garden.

Basis Tucson, University High among nation’s best schools

In this 2009 Star file photo a Basis Tucson student heats magnesium during a chemistry class. The charter school chain’s midtown Tucson campus at 3825 E. Second St. was listed as Arizona’s best public school in the magazine’s state-by-state ranking and second in the nation.

Zoo hauls in water after break in line, but animals are safe

Tucson Parks and Recreation workers, from left, Mike Montoya and Ezequiel Gonzales dig up the broken line. Workers identified a crack, and zoo officials expected to see water flowing again as early as this morning.

Water is hands-on issue

The Earth Day Parade featured a performance by the Danza Mexica Cuauhtemoc Aztec troupe. Exhibits of Earth-friendly programs and products were arrayed around the area.

Historical home hits the road

Just after midnight Sunday, there was a mobile home, of sorts, headed into Vail. It was the historical 1915 Railroad Foreman's House being moved to its new location at the Esmond Station School, now under construction. A crew was maneuvering the old structure, encased in a frame, on the fron…

Old rail house takes to the road

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Residents relish history of old homes

Sue Clement and her husband live in the Jefferson Park Neighborhood, north of the UA. "The house has character. I love that it's a historic home, not a tract home," she said.

Tucson Village Farm teaches kids, families advantage of natural, healthy eating

Thomas Plasse, of service group AmeriCorps, discusses the Tucson Village Farm garden with students from Miles Exploratory Learning Center. The students are picking lettuce for a salad.

Tucson Village Farm teaches kids, families advantage of natural, healthy eating

Thomas Plasse prepares a salad for students from Miles Exploratory Learning Center. The students helped pick the lettuce and Plasse is showing them what ingredients to use when making ranch dressing.

UA aiding citrus-disease research

Assistant research scientist Tonja Fisher, left, with professor Judith Brown, uses a tube to collect adult psyllids. The researchers are making comparisons between these tiny insects and the ones that carry citrus greening disease.

2 stores get surprise visit from the demolition crew

Susana Kopplin, an owner of Maya Palace, monitors the process of packing up the store and moving. She arrived Monday to find a demolition team at work just outside the store. The store must be out by tonight.

Inside the frame

Pictures and paintings on the wall of Barb's Frame of Mind shop show a variety of frame styles and mat colors and widths, and how they complement the artwork they also protect.

Hereford nonprofit offers a ray of hope in the gloom of autism

Chris Guerrero, 21, with his mother, Marla, at Echoing Hope Ranch, which plans to have enrichment and job training programs. Residents must be at least 18 and be capable of some independence. The nonprofit will have 10 beds, says Marla Guerrero, executive director.

Saguaro out front, ghost within help make R Place a unique place

The mosaic was installed when the north-side building housed Blue Sahuaro Chicago Style Pizza and Steak House.

Arizona basketball: Cats' foe will be … a hard one to figure

Pac-12 Tournament bracket

Fairgrounds to get sit-down dining

An interior shot shows The Sunset Cantina's spacious bar and dining area. The restaurant will handle crowds of 200 indoors.

Imposter poses as rodeo star from Marana in scam

This 2012 file photo shows Sherry Cervi competing in the Tucson Rodeo. A western Pennsylvania woman is facing criminal charges that she impersonated the rodeo star and Marana native to set up a sham company to obtain 500 cell phones and $8,000 in saddles.

Colorful, shakin' butterfly release

Sticks & Fingers recording artist Richard Noel kept things - and kids- shaking during the Integrative Touch for Kids' Butterfly Release Event, held Sunday in the La Encantada courtyard.

Store sells 'fresh' cosmetics

Juliane Wilson, with Lush's design team, readies for today's opening of the Tucson cosmetics store, one of 168 in North America. The first store opened in England in 1995. The store says its products are made ethically and nothing is tested on animals.

Vintage B-29 bomber stops in

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Tucson Oddity: Giant 'jacks' along Santa Cruz River are erosion-control devices

These steel objects, known as Kellner jacks, are believed to have been placed along the Santa Cruz River by the Arizona Department of Transportation in the 1970s to catch debris and slow the flow of the river when it floods, cutting down on erosion.

Lenten lunchtime musical offerings

If you go

McCain talks about guns, border in Green Valley

Sen. John McCain was in a humorous mood when he talked to the audience in Green Valley. "It's hard trying to do the Lord's work in the city of Satan, and so it's wonderful to be back here," he said at one point.

Patrick Finley: Tucson rodeo: Family living the cowboy life

A rodeo family affair, from left: Melisa Lunderville, Dylan, Peyton, Taylor and Chad. The kids learned to ride by age 3. "They have their own junior rodeos at home, by themselves," Chad said. "They time each other and film each other."

Mission: 'SavinG outer soles'

"I got tired of working for a living," jokes Kathy Gowin, who owns the Great American Shoe Shine Co.at Tucson International Airport. Above, she goes to work on the boots of Dan Cronin.

Wildlife center increasing space to aid injured eagles

Tucson Electric Power employees work to install power poles for two new enclosures for golden eagles and other injured birds of prey at the Tucson Wildlife Center on the city's east side. TEP has been partnering with the center since the 1990s.