12 News Phoenix

Happy Friday everyone! It's going to be a cool day across the state with afternoon highs falling well below average. Valley highs will only warm into the upper 50s and low 60s. Mostly sunny skies early, with high clouds moving in by tonight. Expect a cold Friday night with overnight lows in the 30s! Full Story »

The new downtown Phoenix Latino arts center that debuts today could be a cultural milestone for the Valley, organizers say. The Arizona Latin@ Arts & Cultural Center will feature Latino art, music, theater and dance. Full Story »

Freeway-improvement projects will require closures or lane restrictions this weekend. Freeway work often occurs overnight. The Arizona Department of Transportation recommends drivers consider alternative routes or give themselves extra travel time while the following restrictions are in place: Full Story »

A street-resurfacing process that frayed tempers and broke windshields 20 years ago may be returning to Phoenix streets. With smaller rocks and updated binding products, chip-sealing even has a fancy new name: fractured aggregate surface treatment. So far, it has been smooth sailing. Full Story »

Daisy Alvarez rolls black ink onto a glass surface and presses her fingertips onto it, leaving prints that other seventh- and eighth-graders in her class dust to reveal the swirls and arches that make her unique. Full Story »

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said his office is teaming with the federal goverment to stop more loan modification scams. Full Story »

Arizona's top prosecutor is partnering with federal regulators to stop more loan-modification scams aimed at struggling homeowners. Full Story »

Las Noches De Las Luminarias starts tonight at the Desert Botanical Garden. For 20 nights, 7,000 luminarias will light up the night sky. It is the 32nd year for the celebration that started with volunteers over 3 decades ago. Full Story »

Lawyers for the Goldwater Institute, a conservative Phoenix think tank, and Tempe will appear before a judge next week to present preliminary information on the lawsuit the institute filed last week, which claims the city offered the developer of Sea Life Aquarium an illegal incentive. Full Story »

Only a handful of the 32 Sea Life Aquariums worldwide feature a 360-degree view of marine life where sightseers are encircled by fish as they walk into a tunnel that cuts through a 165,000-gallon tank. Full Story »

Licensing fees for Arizona child-care facilities will rise less sharply than first proposed thanks to a creative use of federal funds by the Department of Health Services. Full Story »

Arizona's child-care system will hit a grim milestone today when the 10,000th child is turned away from a program that provides assistance to working parents. Full Story »

About 25,000 Fry's and Safeway grocery workers in Arizona are being asked to approve a new three-year contract that was hashed out at the eleventh hour last month to avert a pending strike. Full Story »

The photo on a German police Web site showed a young American laughing and partying with a buddy, hoisting beers and enjoying Europe - a pub scene similar to the last night anyone saw him. Full Story »

Enough people would board a train in the Valley's suburbs that a future commuter-rail system would be as popular as some of the busiest lines in the West, new studies have found. Full Story »

If you love this fall weather, get out and enjoy it today because changes are on the way! High pressure has kept our weather sunny and quiet, with temperatures around the seasonal norm. Valley highs will range from 65-70. Full Story »

It's been a week since five bombs were found at a Northern Arizona University campus dorm, and no arrests have been made. NAU says they do have a few leads, but they still don't have their suspect. Full Story »

An East Valley mom gets the seasonal job of a lifetime. She's one of Santa's secretaries, so she knows what kids really want. "It's tricky because I have six kids so I operate kind of in secret," North Pole Secretary Stacey Christensen says. Full Story »

Additional roadblocks to stop illegal immigrants from receiving government benefits. Employees with the Arizona Department of Economic Security are now required to ask for proof of citizenship. The Arizona Supreme Court has denied a request to delay the new rules. Full Story »

Tonight, expect a nice evening across the Valley. Clear and Crisp! Lows will fall back to 35-45 degrees. Much cooler by the weekend. By Friday, there's a shift in the weather pattern, in which that high pressure gets pushed out by low pressure from the northeast. Full Story »

Maricopa County Sheriff's detention officer Adam Stoddard turned himself in to the Sheriff's Office Tuesday night to serve a court-ordered sentence for removing documents from an attorney's files during a sentencing hearing in October. Full Story »

An unspecified number of Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies and detention officers failed to show for work at the Superior Court Wednesday morning, apparently in protest of one of their own being ordered to serve jail time for contempt of court. Full Story »

Fires become more plentiful this time of year. There's just more of a potential to have them. The hazards are everywhere. Trees dry out, plugs are overloaded, candles are lit! Other hazards to pay attention to include fireplaces that are over-crowded. Full Story »

It's going to be a beautiful fall day with temperatures right around average. Today's high in Phoenix will reach 69, which is the normal high out at the airport. Full Story »

Jannene Montano is an eighth-grader but already is trying on possible careers. She thought about becoming a lawyer, then thought some more. Now, she's aiming at becoming a doctor or a pharmacist. Full Story »