Zorro fights for the underdog…Knowledge is power. — message from “Zorro,” posted on the “Magellaninfo” Web site. In 1995, Walt and Linda Schroeder mortgaged their home in British Columbia, then took $20,000 and invested in what they thought would be a terrific real estate deal with an Arizona company. Now…
Directors of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona did not notify BFA’s 13,000 investors about an August 10 Arizona Corporation Commission meeting to publicly discuss why BFA could no longer market bogus securities. But just in case any old folks in walkers and wheelchairs did catch wind of the public meeting,…
While an increasing number of investors speculates that the Baptist Foundation of Arizona will soon file for bankruptcy, outraged Christians who say they got fleeced by BFA are filing more actions against the financially troubled BFA in Maricopa County Superior Court. James Cook, a former BFA director, filed suit against…
SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO HAS INVITED critics and fans and, of course, reporters, to help him commemorate this week’s third anniversary of his world-famous, “first and only” all-female, gravedigging chain gang. The sheriff’s September 19, 1996, start-up of the all-girl gravedigging chain gang so enraged some ministers that they stopped performing…
Many elderly BFA investors have other things besides lawsuits to occupy their time. After their life savings were frozen by BFA earlier in August, some investors have been forced to take extraordinary steps to support themselves. Former retiree Ann Cacace is one such elderly investor. At a time when she…
Investors claiming they were defrauded by the Baptist Foundation of Arizona (BFA) have filed two lawsuits in Maricopa County Superior Court. A class action lawsuit filed on August 27 by BFA investor Franklin Kestner Sr. charges that BFA and former and current officers and directors bilked investors by funneling their…
It’s football season already, and those houseguests from cold climes will start showing up on your doorstep before you know it. If you’re unsure where to take your out-of-town guests, may I suggest a tour of historic downtown Chandler? Designed around 1912 by veterinarian/developer/irrigation nut/town father A.J. “Doc” Chandler, downtown…
YOUR DEATH IS WHAT THE LAW CALLS SECOND-DEGREE MURDER AND IT IS AN INJUSTICE. CHILDREN INITIATED INTO GANGS ARE PRE-MEDITATING MURDER, BY CARRYING GUNS WITH INTENT TO FIRE THEM AT GROUPS OF PEOPLE. HOW CAN WE CONTINUE TO CONDONE THIS PROBLEM OF OUR TIMES? THE GANGS, THEY ARE A MALADY…
The Arizona Corporation Commission has ordered the Baptist Foundation of Arizona (BFA) and affiliated companies Arizona Southern Baptist New Church Ventures and Christian Financial Partners Inc. to cease “offering and selling securities in violation of the Securities Act of Arizona.” The section of the law cited by the commission is…
When Scott Bundgaard was 18, he was convicted of a felony in connection with stolen goods. The felony was expunged, and at that point Scott Bundgaard was at a crossroads. With his background as a salesman at The Gap, should he venture into the world of retail fashion? Or should…
Editor’s note: The names of child sex-abuse victims, their relatives, the state-licensed foster parents and the actual perpetrators have been changed to protect the victims, who still reside in Arizona and are still minors. All others in this story have been accurately identified. Stephanie and Brittany Jackson As they walked…
The state of Arizona pays veteran Child Protective Services caseworker Mark Peterson $16 an hour to investigate serious reports of child abuse or neglect. Peterson, 46, a graduate of Northern Arizona University, has worked for CPS for seven years, and has spent a total of 22 years as a social…
Before she burned her rear while sitting on a toilet in the kindergarten rest room, before she discovered that children were being forced to stand in the sun as a form of discipline, Nerina Kagan, an offbeat, highly credentialed music teacher from Connecticut, figured she’d found her niche teaching hip-hop…
Christopher was 10 years old when teachers at Longview Elementary School singled him out as a troublemaker. During that long 1993-94 academic year, Christopher regularly baited and insulted his teachers. His theatrics distracted his classmates to such an extent that he was often banished from class and sent to a…
Cruise along Avenida del Yaqui, the main drag in Guadalupe, and you’ll feel like a tourist in a cute little Sonoran town. Fuchsia houses are landscaped with scarlet hollyhocks and giant prickly pear. Mexican restaurants with Spanish signs promoting homemade menudo sit next to tiendas selling pinatas and Indian crafts…
How safe is it to take a balloon ride over the Valley? Commercial balloon pilots interviewed for this story say floating in a balloon is safer than driving a car or flying in an airplane. They estimate that about 50,000 people take peaceful, serene commercial balloon rides in the Valley…
Mary and Jim Harvey looked forward to their trip to Arizona in September 1996. The Texas couple hoped to relax together at the elegant Phoenician resort for a rare few days away from their three children. Mary Harvey arrived at the Phoenician on the afternoon of September 26. Jim, an…
Walter Lorimor is the Polluter Extraordinaire of the West Valley. He’s owned three illegal dumps since 1980, according to a very thick file at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). City and state regulators say he’s broken lots of laws, and for three years they’ve tried to get him…
Seven years ago, Leo and Raven Mercado grew tired of living in a converted school bus, so they settled down in ranch country near Kearny, a town of 3,000 located about 70 miles southeast of Phoenix. To reach their hideaway, one must cross the Gila River on a rusty suspension…
Last June, as exhausted U S West workers in Arizona and 13 other states toiled under mandatory 70-hour work weeks, three retiring big shots at the company’s Denver headquarters reaped $45.1 million in cash severance payments. U S West CEO Richard McCormick got $24.5 million. Chief financial officer Michael Glinsky…
On March 9, 1984, Michael LaVar Cooley woke up from brain surgery to what he thought was his doctor’s crude attempt at a bedside joke. Cooley’s neurosurgeon, Dr. Fred Christensen, confessed he’d just mistakenly operated on the wrong side of Cooley’s brain. It would be necessary to operate the next…
On the morning of July 1, Al and Letha Lindsey settled into what they thought would be an uneventful, routine day at their small house in Youngtown. Al, 79, a retired insurance claims adjuster who suffers from emphysema and congestive heart failure, took a hit of oxygen from the machine…
