As families nationwide are packing their gear and heading out by car, plane and boat, recent data suggests that this summer travel season could be substantially busier than in years past.

Over the next several months we will be spotlighting various homes and subdivisions in Rancho Vistoso, but we thought we would kick things off with an overview.  

(BPT) - Railing can upgrade any deck from drab to fab – adding style, as well as safety and support. In fact, it’s often the one element that truly sets your outdoor living space apart from others in the neighborhood. Here are five steps to create the perfect perimeter for your deck.

Award-winning authors from across the country converge on Pima Community College later this month to inspire and encourage local writers at the 25^thannual Pima Writers’ Workshop.

(NAPSI)—There’s hopeful news for struggling writers. An annual contest is designed to encourage them and honor the best of their work. This year’s award ceremony was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

(StatePoint) As families nationwide are packing their gear and heading out by car, plane and boat, recent data suggests that this summer travel season could be substantially busier than in years past.  

(NAPSI)—There’s good news for those who are tired of giving dad a new version of the same old tie for Father’s Day.

(NAPSI)—Your four-footed friends could benefit from your taking four important steps to keep your pets in peak condition.

(BPT) - TV’s best-fed hedonist, Anthony Bourdain, is keeping busy these days with his hit travel series “Parts Unknown,” his publishing career and an upcoming appearance at this year’s National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago. Love him or hate him, Bourdain is the biggest, baddest food dude on the planet. The self-proclaimed “chef slacker” shares his advice for restaurateurs and new chefs, and talks about his desired last meal on Earth and love of old-school cocktails.

(NewsUSA) - Music and exercise have always complimented one another well, but fitness trends and research indicate real, quantifiable benefits.

It was interesting to see the response The Explorer got last week after my editorial on what we citizens can really do to reach our elected officials. While I am deeply concerned with seemingly not having a voice unless we have enough money, I am not encouraging any residents to stop trying by any means. I still work to contact my elected officials and I always will, even if at times I feel it seems pointless.

Nineteenth century author Henry David Thoreau kept a journal of his reflections for the last 25 years of his life.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R – Ariz., visited Basis Oro Valley today to discuss issues affecting Arizonans and the nation.

(StatePoint) With more women rising to top positions in business and government, the topic of women and their capacity for leadership has been all the buzz in the media lately.

(BPT) - Do the words “aging in place” and “home improvement” conjure images of institutional-looking grab bars in bathrooms and overhead kitchen lights that could illuminate an airport runway? Many people eschew certain types of home improvements for the same reason others refuse to wear hearing aids – the negative connotations of age.

(BPT) - What if you could program the future of your child’s health as simply as you program your alarm clock? Push a button, choose a selected wake-up time, click and you’re done. It’s not quite that simple, but studies show that what a woman eats just before and during pregnancy will impact the health of her child for the rest of his or her life. It’s an area of research called fetal programming.

(BPT) - Two recent clinical studies bring good news to the aging population. If you have lower back pain, burning pain or numbness in your legs you are probably one of the many people suffering with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis (LSS) – a condition affecting a vast majority of the over-60 age group – and this good news applies to you.

Denver, CO – (April 23, 2013) – UsportsHub.com, a Denver-based college sports startup announced today that former Phoenix Sun and six-time NBA All-Star Walter Davis has joined their player analysis team. In his role at UsportsHub.com, Davis will utilize this extensive experience to help supplement the already impressive roster of former college and NBA players that contribute content as Hub Insiders.

(StatePoint) The world is changing and parents need to make sure their children are prepared to succeed in an increasingly globalized economy, say experts.

(StatePoint) El mundo está cambiando y los padres deben asegurarse de que sus hijos estén preparados para triunfar en una economía cada vez más globalizada, dicen los expertos.

(BPT) - One in five Americans will get skin cancer in their lifetime, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer, has steadily increased over the past three decades – to the rate of one American dying an hour from it, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Detecting melanoma when it is most treatable is key to survival. Fortunately, you can take steps to reduce your risk of getting skin cancer, and improve your chances of catching it in its most curable stages.

(NAPSI)—For decades, debate has raged over whether fibromyalgia is a real medical disease. Despite the fact that fibromyalgia affects more than 12.3 million people in the United States—comparable to the number of people affected by cancer—some clinicians believe fibromyalgia is nothing more than a “syndrome.” When patients complain of chronic pain, diffuse muscle and joint tenderness, depression, mental fog, digestive troubles, severe fatigue, insomnia and other unbearable symptoms, they’ve often been told the problem is “in their heads.”

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