Local workers unions and Safeway and Fry's grocery stores have reached a tentative settlement on a collective-bargaining agreement, averting a worker's strike. Union spokeswoman Ellen Anreder says terms of the settlement, reached late Thursday, will not be disclosed until union members have voted...A free bus route serving downtown Mesa has seen its ridership double since the beginning of the year. The "Downtown Buzz" route had more than 19,000 riders in October, a big increase over the 9,300 riders it had in January, its first month of operation...As of this morning, firefighters were battling a blaze at a mansion in the Scottsdale neighborhood of Troon North. The occupants of the mansion got out safely, but the home looks to be a total loss. The cause of the fire in unknown at this time...A Gilbert baby received three organ transplants in a single procedure, a first in Arizona. The baby had its surgery at University Medical Center in Tucson, and is said to be recovering nicely...
Deputies say they thwarted an attempt to bring drugs into the Camp Verde Detention Center in October. An inmate named Mark Lofton allegedly picked up a bag of drugs reportedly left in a court elevator by a man named Jason Robertson, for whom police are still searching. Several other inmates and civilians were said to be involved...A librarian at Camelback High School was stunned to receive books in the mail that were 51 years overdue. A letter was enclosed with the books, from someone who identified himself as "an almost graduate of Camelback High," along with a check for $1,000 for overdue fees.
