The City of Surprise turns the big 5-0 in 2010 and the city is now gathering photos and stories from past and current long-time residents and business owners to include in a history book and video to commemorate the big anniversary.

Road crews will begin manhole installation work on eastbound Bell Road from Litchfield Road to Grand Avenue starting Friday night, as the Bell Road Reconstruction project continues. And although road restrictions are planned, access to all businesses in the area will be protected.

The Surprise Community and Recreation Services Department is gearing up for another season of Youth Fall Baseball for boys and girls ages 9-12. All games will be played at the Youth Baseball Complex located at 15565 N. Parkview Place. Leagues will begin in early October. Registration is going on now!

Surprise is adding Pedestrian Countdown Crossing Signals at all city signalized intersections, as a commitment to pedestrian safety.

Sometimes an artist comes to a specific place geographically and it happens that they experience a kind of epiphany that changes their career. When Joella Jean Mahoney stepped off the train in Flagstaff, Arizona as a student at Northern Arizona University in 1951, she knew that Arizona would be her new home. Georgia OKeefe was mesmerized by New Mexico. Joella would find her inspiration here in the mountains and deserts of our state and make her home in Sedona.

The Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex will host the 1st Annual Surprise Summer Lights Tournament, Wednesday, July 30 - Saturday, August 2. This United States Tennis Association (USTA) Southwest sanctioned tournament is the only event in the state where all matches are played in the evening under the lights.

With Phases 2 and 3 of the Bell Road Reconstruction Project scheduled to begin on August 11, a 24 hour project hotline has been established.

The City of Surprise kicked off a new city-funded round trip Express bus between Surprise and Phoenix Monday morning, much to the delight of riders, who filled the first run of the new bus to near-capacity.

After Phoenix closed its pools recently; Surprise took proactive measures and sent water samples to be tested for Cryptosporidium, a parasite that is resistant to chlorine disinfection and causes severe diarrhea.

Surprise walked away with two State Championships in the Cal Ripken State Tournament which concluded July 11 and 12 at the Reach 11 Park in Phoenix. The two All Star teams; the Surprise Rangers, an 11-year old and under team and the Surprise Royals, a 10-year old and under team were declared the Cal Ripken State Champions in their respective divisions. Both teams have qualified for the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament in California where they will compete against Hawaii, Guam, Utah, Nevada and other western states for a chance to make it to the World Series Tournament.

Higher gas prices and long commutes have more and more Surprise residents searching for another way to get to work in downtown Phoenix. On Monday, July 28, a third Express bus trip from Surprise will go into service that will be funded by the city.

On Friday afternoon on August 8, at 3 pm, join Sean Morton of Morton Appraisals of Scottsdale at West Valley Art Museum for a scintillating experience across the table at tea as Sean talks about the ins and outs of the appraisal world.

The art, poetry and essays are from youth currently living in the foster care system. These pieces provide a window into their personal experiences in the child welfare system. Childrens Action Alliance and Free Arts of Arizona collaborated to bring the 2006 Foster Care Awareness Campaign Art Contest to foster care youth in Arizona. Over 25 youth living in the foster care system participated by creating art, poetry and essays about their lives and experiences. Free Arts of Arizona developed a three session curriculum to encourage foster youth to explore their creativity, and to deepen and enhance their final art product. Young Arts Arizona framed the pieces for exhibit.

The City of Surprise has scheduled a Salsa Boot Camp for August 2, 2008 from 12:30pm-2:30pm.The fee for Surprise residents is $10 per person or $15 per couple.

West Valley Art Museum, in Surprise, is offering a bronze relief by John Waddell in a drawing to be held at the conclusion of ticket sales. A donation by Gary K. and Jeanne L. Herberger, the relief was a donation from their foundation to enable the Museum to raise funds. The Museum will sell only 200 tickets at $100 each. This means that each ticket has a one in two hundred chance of winning this sculpture.

The next two phases of the five-phase Bell Road Reconstruction Project are just about to begin and the city will use rubberized asphalt in a portion of the work.

Although there have been no health-related problems associated with City of Surprise pools, as a precautionary measure the city will send samples of water from both public pools to a lab to test for Cryptosporidium, a parasite that is resistant to chlorine disinfection and causes severe diarrhea.

Surprise Mayor Lyn Truitt has been named Co-Chair of the Luke/West Valley Mayor's Council, an organization of fourteen west valley cities and Luke Air Force Base.

The Surprise City Council has unanimously acknowledged the Arizona Attorney General's Office report that found Open Meetings Law infractions had occurred prior to 2008.

The Surprise Community and Recreation Services Department is gearing up for another season of fall sports with co-ed Youth Flag Football and Youth Soccer, which begin in September. Boys and girls ages 5-12 years old are encouraged to learn the skills of the sport and have fun!

The Surprise Water Conservation Division is the proud sponsor of the Spring 2009 Maricopa County Master Gardener Program and applications are being accepted right now!

Want to learn all you can about how Homeowner's Associations (HOA) work? Then make plans to attend the next HOA Academy. Weekly classes begin September 9.

The Surprise Senior Center is committed to the well being of the area's aging community and is helping host two unique classes designed to keep seniors in touch and in better health.

In a move to continually make government more accessible, the city's new Surprise11 home page allows visitors to watch the channel and important city meetings live, or choose from a list of programs to watch whenever they want.

On Saturday, June 28, the Surprise Police Department will provide residents with free Vehicle Identification Number (V.I.N.) Etching, and enrollment into the state's Watch Your Car Program. The free event will be held from 8 a.m. - 11 a.m. at the Albertson's, 16750 W. Bell Road, Surprise. The first 60 vehicles will receive free steering wheel locks.

The city of Surprise has received national recognition for its innovative cable television productions and Web site.

The Surprise Solid Waste Division reminds residents that regular-scheduled trash and recyclable collection service will occur on Friday, July 4.

Approximately 225 people wielding shovels and rakes took to the streets of Surprise Saturday, June 21, cleaning up dozens of properties city wide.

Over 1,400 athletes from across the United States, will converge on the Surprise Recreation Campus starting this weekend for the 16 and Under USA Baseball Junior Olympics Baseball Championships. The 72 teams will be competing for National Championship bragging rights. Also at stake is the selection of players to the National Team to represent the United States at the PAN-AM Games.

New accessible play equipment will be added to the Miracle Playground at the Surprise Community Park. The playground will be closed June 23-27 to allow for the installation.

Celebrate Fourth of July with the City of Surprise and the Community and Recreation Services Department, 6-8:30p.m., July 4 at the Surprise Recreation Campus. Enjoy live entertainment, great food and lots of family fun! The evening is highlighted with a 20-minute firework show set to patriotic music starting at dusk.

Income-qualified residents in need of emergency home repairs are encouraged to apply for free repair assistance through the Surprise Emergency Repair Program.

Tickets to all shows in the Webb Centers 2008-2009 season will go on presale to members of their Encore Society beginning Monday, June 23 at 9:00am. Shows in the upcoming season include concerts with Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, Bryan White and Kathy Mattea as well as Broadway musicals such as The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and the 10th anniversary tour of Footloose. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday, August 4.

The City of Surprise broke ground at the Surprise Farms Community Park on June 3 and is currently working on Phase I of the project. Surprise Farms Community Park is located in the Surprise Farms Subdivision, east of the Dysart Elementary School and west of 172nd Lane.

The Surprise City Council unanimously approved a fiscal year 2009 (FY09) budget of $358,961,700 at Thursday night's regular council meeting.

City of Surprise employees will be asked to take action and save energy as summer's extreme heat arrives, that includes raising the thermostat at city facilities and turning off some lights.

The Surprise City Council faces a full agenda when they meet Thursday, June 12, for a regularly-scheduled council meeting. Among the items under consideration for the seven-member body are: an employment contract for a new city manager, final approval for next year's budget, a Truth-in-Taxation hearing regarding property taxes and sanctioning a Pride Day cleanup event for the city.

Do you have a working smoke detector in your home? If not the Surprise Fire Department will give you one free of charge and they will install it too.

West Valley Art Museum is showing a group of Mexican masks from the collection of Russ Todd, who earlier this year loaned the Museum a portion of his Mexican comic book collection. The exhibit at the Museum in Surprise opened May 30 and will remain up until July 27.

Do you have a talent or know of someone with a special talent? Flying high on the popularity of the hit television show, "American Idol," the Surprise Senior Center is hosting their "second season" Senior American Idol Show and Contest, July 2.

On Saturday, June 7, the Surprise Police Department will be providing citizens free Vehicle Identification Number (V.I.N.) Etching, and enrollment into the state's Watch Your Car Program.

The city of Surprise, in partnership with Credit Union West, is offering a financial fitness class on June 19, that will address the issue of how to build and stick to a personal budget.

On Saturday, June 7, the Surprise Police Department will provide free Vehicle Identification Number (V.I.N.) Etching and enrollment into the state's Watch Your Car Program.

The Surprise City Council has unanimously voted to authorize contract negotiations with Charles R. Oliver for the position of City Manager.

This summer the Surprise Police Department will increase patrols of city parks and greenbelt areas, in an effort to reduce criminal activity during the summer break. Officers will be patrolling areas that have historically shown an increase of crimes generally related to underage youths. The patrols will be conducted on foot, bicycles, Segways and patrol cars. A sample of the laws that will be enforced include:

Over 500 of Arizona's elite high school football, baseball and volleyball athletes will compete in the Annual High School All-Star Games in Surprise, over the last weekend in May and the next few weekends in June.

The Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex will help beat the heat with new summer hours, starting June 1.