Starting this year, many vehicles will only need to go through emissions testing once every two years, and drivers will be able to pay with Visa or MasterCard at the testing station, instead of just cash or check.

Vehicles that require on-board diagnostics tests will only have to be checked once every two years. Those are vehicles registered in Arizona and that weigh less than 8,600 pounds and are model-years 1996 through 2004, said Mark Shaffer, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

• Bankruptcy filings jumped 57% here in '08
• Sweetwater steps are for the birds
• Court to see if state took cities' funds illegally
• National report grades Ariz. schools at C-
• Digital-TV trial run hints at more public awareness
• More Tucson Metro news

Oregon appears to be stuck in a rebuilding year, with too much inexperience masking its considerable talent, at least for now.

And Oregon State, while coming off a surprising overtime win over USC last weekend, is still too thin on talent and too new to first-year coach Craig Robinson's system to make a serious impact in the Pac-10.

• College Football: Sooners vs. Gators stirs ongoing debate of a playoff system
• Baseball: Japanese team could sub for Sox at spring training
• UA Women's Basketball: Wildcats to stress focus, discipline on road trip
• High School Soccer: Header gives Lancers win over Tucson
• High School Wrestling: Erly unlocks key to win as Salpointe cruises
• More sports news

While 2008 was kind of a sleeper year in the music industry, 2009 is looking to come out swinging.

As for movies? Forget the Golden Globes, dependable predictor of Oscar success that they are. It's time to pull out the crystal ball and see what patterns and prospects emerge amid the haze of the 2009 movie year.

• Movies: More franchises are rebooting
• Hundreds wait in line to have wine bottles signed by rock star
• Review: 'Bride Wars' (with video)
• Local musicians have gentle on their minds at Wooden Ball
• More from AZNightBuzz

Just in time for the presidential inauguration: Three new T-shirts from cartoonist David Fitzsimmons are on sale in the StarNet Shop. The shirts are priced at $19.99 each and are available in men's and women's models.

• Travel Moments contest: Win a cruise!
• 2009 Battle of the Bands
• Clubs and Organizations database
• StarNet games
• Restaurant Health Inspections
• Homes Sold database
• Search the restaurant review database
• More StarNet extras

The first Tucson appearance by the madcap Harlem Globetrotters was in 1950. Bill Veeck, the owner of the Cleveland Indians and a Tucson resident, was a friend of the Trotters owner Abe Saperstein. Veeck urged Saperstein to bring the show to Tucson and the team has been making trips to Tucson ever since.

• Gridlocked: More photo radar news
• Odd Blog: No take-backs!
• Hard to Explain: Interview and observations from Maynard James Keenan's wine signings at Whole Foods
• More StarNet and NightBuzz blogs