E ven in his young adulthood, Bob Brutinel had no idea he was going to be a plumber, or that he was going to live in Casa Grande. Yet now his name, and indeed his face, have become synonymous with both.

W hile the lifespan of a business can see many different people and directions, the same can be said for a building.

CASA GRANDE — Life has a way of throwing curveballs. In the late 1970s, Janie Garza Brown was looking for work and found a job at an insurance shop. She had no idea that one day she would be running that business.

During the holiday season, we are all bombarded with million-dollar marketing campaigns pushing the bulk distribution of the hottest gifts. That’s what it takes for major corporation to grow their profits. But for the many still remaining mom-and-pop shops in Pinal County, the key to keeping…

Oracle was in its infancy as a mining and cattle ranching community around 1891 when it was mentioned in a medical journal. The article stated that the area north of Tucson was a great place for people with respiratory problems and diseases like tuberculosis. That was a big deal at the time.…

Miguel Sfeir remembers the first time he visited the small town of Superior. He had driven by on Highway 60 while riding his motorcycle, and a friend, Curtis Pierce, had a connection to the town and recommended Sfeir take a look. Sfeir exited the highway and drove down Main Street, past the …

The world-famous Heard Museum in Phoenix has about 130,000 square feet of space. Then there’s the World’s Smallest Museum in Superior, which has about 130.

When my wife and I go on vacation, I normally make the schedule for the week and then buy airplane tickets and rent a car.

Frank Pinkley was 19 years old in 1900 when he arrived in Arizona on a train from Missouri. He was scheduled to stay six months to recover from a mild case of tuberculosis. He never left.

In a sense, the people of the Ak-Chin Native American community have always been involved in gambling. Translated, Ak-Chin means “mouth of the wash” and refers to farming that relies on the desert washes in the area. Even today, most of the reservation is covered with agricultural fields.

At the Dust Bowl Theater on Main Street, J.W. Tidwell could watch two movies and a cartoon, eat popcorn and a candy bar and drink a soda for the dollar in his pocket. He even left with a little change.

You don’t know how big a 747 jet airplane is until you are standing on the ground next to it, looking up. It’s not the same as looking out the terminal window at an international airport. The plane’s length and wingspan are both more than 200 feet. The gap between the bottom of the plane’s b…

For some people a car is just a way to get around. For others, it’s much more than that.

The Great Recession 10 years ago destroyed a lot of businesses, but in the dusty desert southwest of Maricopa, it helped start one.

They’re a group of military veterans who belong to the American Legion and regularly visit their local post, and they enjoy riding motorcycles together. Whatever you do, though, don’t call the American Legion Riders a motorcycle club.

Pinal County is more than 5,000 square miles, so it’s a difficult place to get around for people who don’t own a car.

The Saddlebrooke Cyclemasters ride their bicycles around.

The California Zephyr was a passenger train that ran between Chicago and Oakland, California, from 1949 to 1970 and was once called “the most talked about train in America.”

High-end vehicle enthusiasts in and near Maricopa who wanted a place to store their cars and their own track to drive on got their wish in March.

I don’t know why driving an automobile brings out the worst in people. They wait until the last minute to merge, cut each other off, tailgate, speed and run red lights — and those are some of the better drivers. The really bad ones do all those things and more, such as swerve all over the ro…

Stella Garcia is well known around Pinal County for her upbeat personality and willingness to help people. She made friends during her years working in marketing at Central Arizona College and through her time teaching children at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Casa Grande. She make…

By the late 1930s in Florence, the Wild West era was thought to be over. It had been 50 years since the infamous gunfight in which former Sheriff Pete Gabriel shot and killed his former deputy Joe Phy.

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” — John Milton (1608-1674), English poet

Twelve-step programs have been helping people overcome addictive and compulsive behaviors since Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in the 1930s. The 12 steps aim to condition the mind for healthier behaviors and heal the spirit by acknowledging and asking for help from a higher power.

Emily Sebring is used to skeptics. The holistic health care practitioner has encountered a few during the last seven years as the owner of Root 2 Route Botanicals & Natural Medicine, formerly known as Herbalicious, in Casa Grande.

Physician shortages in rural parts of the United States have become increasingly alarming in recent years, with Arizona at the forefront. A 2015 report released by the American Medical Association revealed that Arizona ranked fourth among states most affected by physician deficits in rural a…

Every day thousands of people turn 65 and are therefore eligible for Medicare. For many, Medicare options can be confusing.

A relative of mine recently was in a hospital, then was moved to a care facility. My wife joined other relatives one day keeping him company and waiting for the doctor so they could ask questions. They waited hours.

A cattle rancher spends much of his time outside wearing boots and a cowboy hat, but he has to be able to think like someone who wears a suit and tie.

If you were stuck living in a home where you didn’t like your surroundings or your neighbors, getting out would be difficult. You might have to make repairs, hire a real estate agent, get ready to leave on a moment’s notice for a showing, shop for a new home and apply for a mortgage. The who…

It's 8 a.m. on Wednesday, but it looks and sounds like Saturday.

Jason Stephens has spent about 8,000 hours of his life in the sky at the controls of different types of aircraft, including more than a few above the desert and mountains of northeast Pinal County. He’s won five U.S. National Glider Aerobatic Championships and competed in the world glider ch…

Pinal County isn’t the easiest place to be a vegan.

KariLee Dancer completed her first marathon about a dozen years ago, but it wasn’t pretty. She didn’t train enough, and 26.2 miles of asphalt is a long way to travel on foot when you’re mostly running. When she got home, she crawled around on the floor because she could hardly walk.

For many independent artists, juggling their creative endeavors and turning them into an entrepreneurial feat is no easy task. From lugging their work to festivals and fairs, to learning the ropes of social media, the following three artists have molded their art into a lifestyle all its own.

I had a friend in high school who was into weight lifting.

Imagine, for a moment, you are a man who owns nothing. You have no money or possessions. You have no wife or romantic partner, nor will you ever. You live in complete obedience to your boss. After work, you have no free time to watch television or a movie, work out or go to the neighborhood …

The world’s greatest doctor must work inside the nondescript trailer home at 19997 N. Justin Drive in Maricopa. A banner outside simply says “Healing Rooms.” Inside, a binder more than an inch thick sits on a table, stuffed with hand-written statements signed by people who came here and were…

It’s the oldest Pinal County church building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but drive by and you might miss it.

The church affiliations of Pinal County’s many female pastors are as divergent as their individual paths in life. But all assert their destiny to serve came from an unseen source.

Grace 91.1, KVNG-FM, isn’t the only religious radio station broadcasting in Pinal County.

I drifted away from God and didn’t return for almost 40 years.

The Bible instructs Christians to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, although there’s only so much a small church in Casa Grande can do. How do you bring the Gospel to a shack on the Gila River Indian Community, to the inside of a moving car on I-10 or to a farmhouse hidden behind a huge ani…

Oracle is home to ranchers, miners, artists and retirees, people with vastly different backgrounds. They also have different political views, as David and Stacy Raneri found out when they opened the Oracle Patio Café during the contentious election year of 2012.

LISTED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES:

According to a 2016 estimate by the Public Religion Research Institute, 69 percent of Americans were Christian, 24 percent were “unaffiliated or unanswered,” 2 percent were Jewish, 1 percent each were Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and “other,” and 1 percent had no response. A 2016 Gallup poll show…

Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino (1645-1711) was an Italian explorer, cartographer and astronomer who spent the last 24 years of his life in the Pimería Alta, an area that is modern-day Sonora in Mexico and southern Arizona.

CASA GRANDE -- Omar, a little blonde dog, has a job.

Teddy suffered from degenerative myelopathy, a spinal-cord disease common among long-backed dogs that robs them of coordination in their hind limbs. The Welsh Corgi was found wandering the streets of Sierra Vista and taken in by Arizona Cactus Corgi Rescue. Business owner Tena Dugan of Maric…