The Mesa Historical Museum will close early next year because of lack of revenue and city funding. The museum’s exhibits will be moved to other places, including the Arizona Museum for Youth, where the exhibit “Play Ball: The Cactus League Experience” will be housed…An illegal immigrant who was involved in…

State employees in Arizona will retain domestic-partner benefits for the next 12 months, even though the Legislature’s decided to eliminate those benefits in their last budget. The Department of Administration says cutting the benefits before October 2010 could put the state in violation of contract laws…Next week, the Metro light-rail board…

Phoenix will get its first railroad quiet zone at the end of this month. The zone, on the southern end of downtown along Harrison Street between Third and Fourth avenues, has to be re-certified each year, and has cost an estimated $100,000 in privately raised money so far…Crews rescued a…

The free tickets for tonight’s WNBA Championship game at US Airways Center are gone, and only a limited number of seats remain for sale.The Phoenix Mercury will be shooting for their second WNBA Championship in three years. They’re facing the Indiana Fever, who are seeking their first-ever title, with Larry…

Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies say they are investigating after someone painted “Kill Obama” in purple spray paint across a pair of political signs in Cave Creek. Sheriff Joe Arpaio says the Secret Service has been contacted, and asks anyone with information to contact his office…Arizona State University baseball coach Pat…

The Arizona Department of Health Services will increase its fees for close to 2,000 child state care facilities. The current licensing fee for child-care providers is $150 for three years. With the increase, licenses will cost between $581 and $13,442, depending on the number of children…It’s been a year since…

A Yuma man is in custody after an almost nine-hour standoff with police. Michael McCormick was wanted in connection with several vehicle thefts and burglaries. When police tracked him to a motel, he fled and broke into a trailer home, where the standoff ensued. He eventually surrendered and was taken…

Two juveniles were arrested by Phoenix police for allegedly shooting at traffic signs and speed enforcement cameras with BB guns. DPS officers stopped a black Volvo after reports of shots fired on eastbound Interstate 10 and took a male and a female into custody. There were reportedly five juveniles in the…

All schools in the Williams Unified School District will be closed today because of a fire burning near the city. The blaze, dubbed the Twin Fire, began Friday and scorched 1,000 acres by Sunday night. About 465 fire personnel are battling the blaze…A water line broke near 11th street and…

Larry Johnson, a former executive at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, has written a book titled Frozen. In the book, Johnson writes that employees at Alcor mishandled baseball legend Ted Williams’ head, with one employee taking baseball-like swings at Williams’ frozen head with a monkey wrench…The Turf Paradise…

A Valley teen with no underlying medical conditions died from the H1N1 (swine) flu in early September, according to health officials. The teenager was from Maricopa County, but little else is known about him or her. Officials in Yavapai County reported their first death from swine flu earlier this week…William…

On a sunny September afternoon, the pulsing sounds of reggae rise from a red brick house in downtown Phoenix. Inside, chinking guitars and bouncy bass lines resonate through the wood floor in the front room, where Casper & The Mighty 602 Band are rehearsing for an upcoming show in New…