WASHINGTON – Lots of high school bands will march in Fourth of July parades Friday, but not many will have flown 2,000 miles to do it. When the Willow Canyon High School marching band steps off Friday for the National Independence Day Parade in Washington, though, it will be a long from home in Surprise.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that a vaccine for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus was not available. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a conditional license on June 16 to Harrisvaccines Inc. for its vaccine, the first to win conditional approval for controlling PEDV.

WASHINGTON – Maybe it was the flawless ceremonial first pitch by former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords that did the trick. Something happened to turn around the fortunes of congressional women, who broke a four-year losing streak and beat women members of the Washington press corps in a charity softball game Wednesday.

• A common desert plant found throughout the Southwestern U.S., indigenous to that area and northern Mexico. • Became popular as an alternative to rubber trees during World War II's rubber crisis. • Needs less water, fewer nutrients and pesticides to survive than most other plants. • Thrives in a semiarid habitat and can be grown year-round.

When thousands descended on the beaches of Normandy last week for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the crowds included tourists, veterans and world leaders. And Scottsdale resident Stan Dale was there with scores of little bags filled with dirt. Dale had gathered samples of soil from all 50 states to place at Omaha Beach for the American soldiers who gave their lives there.

WASHINGTON – When thousands descend on the beaches of Normandy Friday for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the crowds are expected to include tourists, veterans and world leaders there to mark the day. And Scottsdale resident Stan Dale, who will be carrying scores of little bags filled with dirt.

An investigation into the theft of a bag of hand sanitizer led to a methamphetamine bust at Mesa Community College's Red Mountain campus, according to court records. David Joseph Auer, 43, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of several drug related counts, including possession of a dangerous drug, records show.

Susan Shipley of Scottsdale was blindsided when she received a call from her accountant in March saying that her taxes had been rejected by the Internal Revenue Service because someone already had filed on her family's behalf. Alarmed, Shipley called the IRS, where officials confirmed what her accountant had said.

Nine smugglers carrying marijuana with an estimated street value of $191,000, officials said. Border Patrol agents on Thursday seized 382 pounds of marijuana and arrested nine people accused of attempting to smuggle the drugs across the border near Yuma in makeshift backpacks. Agent Douglas Choi, a spokesperson for U.S Customs and Border Protection, said agents assigned to the Wellton Station were on patrol early Thursday morning when they spotted footprints in the desert, altering them that there may be smugglers in the area.

Investigators are now treating the death of a person found inside a luxury Paradise Valley home on Tuesday as a homicide. Michael Cole, a Paradise Valley Police Department spokesman, said authorities initially considered the death as "suspicious" but upgraded it to a homicide Wednesday morning following an intensive investigation by detectives.

A broken water line forced police to close down part of a major thoroughfare near Scottsdale Fashion Square on Wednesday morning, according to a police spokesman. The southbound lanes of Scottsdale Road between Highland Road and Camelback Road were closed after construction workers in the area accidentally struck and broke a waterline just after 11 a.m Wednesday, said Officer David Pubins, a Scottsdale police spokesman. .

Cooler weather and higher humidity in northern Arizona today is expected to help firefighters wrangle a wildfire burning about six miles southeast of Flagstaff, according to a U.S. Forest Service representative. The Fisher Fire, so named for its location in the Fisher Canyon area, reportedly has burned about 85 acres of the Coconino National Forest as of Friday evening.

An SUV struck and killed a man using a walker on Wednesday when he stepped out of a crosswalk to retrieve an item from the roadway in north central Phoenix, police said. The man, who was in his 50s, was in the crosswalk on 19th Avenue at Turney Avenue when he dropped something into the southbound lane just after 12 p.m., said Sgt.

In an effort to crack down on vehicle thefts, the Tempe Police Department will provide registered car owners with free Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) etchings today in Tempe, according to a statement from the Tempe Police Department. Officials from the department's Crime Prevention Unit will be etching VIN numbers onto the edge of vehicle window frames from 4 to 6 p.m. at 1250 W.

Cottonwood Police are asking for the public's help in the search for an 8-year-old boy reported missing on Wednesday afternoon. Police say the boy, whose name was not released, was last seen in the area of Ninth Street and Aspen at approximately 2:30 p.m. today. Tod Moore, a Cottonwood Police Department spokesman, said the boy walked away from home after getting into a fight with his mother.

A Buckeye women was arrested Thursday on suspicion of animal cruelty and abuse nearly a month after investigators removed nine malnourished horses from her property, according to a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's deputies originally served a search warrant on the home of Denise Denney, 59, near Van Buren Street and Sun Valley Parkway, on March 12 after receiving an anonymous letter about possible animal abuse, according to Lt.