Last summer, the Thornydale Little League 11- and 12-year-old softball all-star team finished third in Arizona.

Ten-year-old Roy Lesnewski’s T-shirt read: “OK I admit it was my sister’s fault.”

January is the season of shows returning from mid-season hiatuses and season premieres. These are a few of my favorite:

August 24, 2005 - A new sports year means not only new coaches to the Northwest and Foothills area but brand new teams as well. Making its inaugural debut this fall is the Pusch Ridge Christian Academy swim team. Headed up by Julie Allen, the swim team is another in a line of new sports added to the Class 2A school within the last year. In the winter, play began with the girls soccer team.

July 12, 2006 - It was supposed to be a joyous day, one of the happiest of their young lives.

Northwest Fire Paramedics responded to the Circle K at 4900 W. Ina Road just after 6:30 a.m. for a reported childbirth.

The Northwest Fire District responded to a home in the 6900 block of North Eclipse Pl. at 9:46 p.m. Sunday night, after the homeowner and her two children arrived home to find heavy smoke within their house.

Senior Jessica Sipe and five classmates lead a somewhat-seasoned Mountain View softball team into the 2010 season.

On Sunday, 14-year-old Tianna Valerio thought her champion-winning cow was going to give birth to either one very large calf, or maybe twins, but certainly not triplets that were all the same sex.

After 15 years’ work as an accountant, Dan Tarquin’s sense of satisfaction lie buried under red ink.

Marana Unified School District Board Member Bill Kuhn was engrossed in conversation with the principal at Twin Peaks Elementary school about the merits of various forms of school testing when MUSD Superintendent Wade McLean grabbed him by the elbow.

If you have not been challenged with moving your family across cities, towns, states or counties in your lifetime, let me be the first to tell you it is extremely challenging yet completely satisfying, once you land in a community that you can call home.

Marana Unified School District officials recommended April 11 that Marana High School's varsity girl's basketball coach be relieved of his coaching position following a three-month investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. The finding does not affect his teaching contract.

Nov. 30, 2005 - It's time to lace up the sneakers and get in the starting blocks at Canyon Del Oro High School. Head track coach Jim Truitt has announced that LaTonya Sheffield will join the coaching staff for the Dorado's track and field team.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m sharing a rather humorous conversation that I recently had with a long-distance friend via text (with her permission). I hope you find it as entertaining as I do. While the names have been changed to protect anonymity, the story is completely true.

‘March’ on over for orchestra’s free pops concert

Last year, the Pusch Ridge Lions were so close to a state championship they could taste it. This year, they weren’t about to lose again in the state championship softball game. The Lady Lions took down the Division IV title after defeating sixth-seed St. Johns 3-2 at the Rose Mofford Complex on May 12.

Aida Pacheco chatted about her relaxing massage while a nail technician painted each of her fingernails with a fresh coat of polish and a stylist simultaneously towel dried her hair.

September 28, 2005 - It's time to bust out the Chuck Taylor high tops and set up the peach basket, because basketball is coming to Oro Valley. And while the reference may be archaic, the league is very new. Working in conjunction with the town's parks and recreation department, the Oro Valley Basketball League for kids will begin play in early December and run through February.

When Jan Mitich joined the Marana Unified School District's governing board in 1989, she was alarmed to discover that none of the district's elementary schools had counselors.

A job applicant posting in a Michigan hospital opened the door to a young Minnesota farm girl in the early 1940s.

Rated R for language throughout and some violence. 116 minutes. Grade: B.