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Spat about patient care lands hospice in court

TUCSON — Two nurses are suing one of the nation’s largest hospice networks, alleging that they were fired in retaliation for raising alarms about shortcomings in patient care at the hospice’s Tucson location.

Terri L. McCormick and Marlene H. Deakins brought the suit in Pima County Superior Court against United Health Group, which runs Evercare Hospice under executive director Robert Lomas. The facility is licensed by the state and cares for people who have a terminal illness with less than six months left to live.

McCormick and Deakins claim several violations occurred at the Tucson facility over the past two years, and that they were fired for making them public by notifying state authorities.

Deakins started working for UHG/Evercare Hospice in December 2005, and McCormick began in May 2006, the complaint states. Deakins eventually worked in two top director positions, while McCormick was a case manager.

They claim Lomas and other staff were responsible for several blunders in late 2007 that impacted patients. In their complaint, they list nine violations, such as new nurses doing patient visits without sufficient training; nurses missing patient visits altogether; wound care not being administered; and a patient’s blood clot going unaddressed by staff, among other things.

McCormick filed a complaint on December 27, 2007 with the hospice’s oversight agency, the state Department of Health Services.

The next day, she claims Lomas threatened to fire her. Four days later, she claims she was written up with no explanation. Deakins had since been fired.

In January, state investigators contacted the organization to check out McCormick’s complaint. Two weeks later, she claims she received a second write-up from hospice officials. She was fired in late February, and hospice officials also filed a complaint against her nursing license.

Now McCormick and Deakins are alleging they were wrongfully terminated and suing for an undisclosed amount for compensatory and punitive damages. They are represented by Tucson lawyers Mary Judge Ryan and Merle Joy Turchik.

Wisconsin bank goes after Pinal developers

PINAL COUNTY — A Milwaukee-based bank is asking for court judgments against at least five Pinal County developers who have defaulted on their loans in the wake of the nation’s economic recession and Arizona’s sagging real estate market.

M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank has filed numerous lawsuits in Pinal County Superior Court recently seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers who have dried up. Chief among them is Pueblo One LLC, a Chandler-based developer who had bought land near Royce and Arizona Farm roads in Queen Creek.

That deal went through in April 2006, when the real estate market was peaking. Since then, however, the bank claims Pueblo One has been unable to pay off a $565,000 loan it received to buy the 5.75-acre property.

In September, the bank put the property up for sale at a trustee sale. The market value of the land at the time had sunk to $175,794, according to court records. The bank is now seeking a judgment for the difference – about $422,000 – if the land value remains steady.

The suit against Pueblo One is just one of several that M&I Marshall and Ilsley bank has been filing recently. Court records show a flurry of lawsuits have been filed in Pinal and Pima counties since late November.

In Pinal County, the bank has filed similar actions against Skyline Development Group LLC, Sangwon Yum, Sagwoo Jun, and Horace Kim ($192,000) and Double Diamond Inc., which is doing business as Sugar Creek Development ($29,000).

Phoenix lawyer Leonard J. McDonald Jr. is representing the bank.

Investors take UofA to court over land sale

TUCSON — Developers and the local American Indian tribe are suing the University of Arizona for fraud over a $1.6 million land deal in early 2006.

San Joaquin Land Investments LLC, of which the Tohono O’odham Nation is a member, claims the university misled buyers in an auction by offering a keeping secret an appraisal that priced the land significantly lower than the ultimate sale price.

The auction involved about 106 acres near San Joaquin Road and Old Ajo Highway. In early 2006, UofA offered the land for sale at public auction, and made an informational packet available to potential bidders for $75.

The tribe claims it paid the fee and that the sale price listed for the property was $1.59 million, and that the minimum bid began at this figure. The tribe’s economic development agency offered $1.6 million and won, the complaint states.

But the complaint also claims that the university withheld an appraisal that claimed the land was worth between $4,000 and $5,000 per acre, or up to $530,000. The tribe also claims the university did not disclose this before the sale was complete on May 30, 2006.

As a result, the tribe claims there are several things wrong with the land. It claims its development group has poured more than $800,000 into planning and engineering and other issues at the site.

The group is now suing the university in Pima County Superior Court. It is asking a judge to overturn the sale and refund its money, or for an award of at least $2,426,603.

Tucson lawyer G. Lawrence Schubart is representing San Joaquin Land Investments LLC.

In Pinetop, ‘biosolids’ break winds of political change

WHITE MOUNTAINS — Two men who support recycling the leftover sludge from the local wastewater plant for use as a soil conditioner won a surprising election victory in Pinetop-Lakeside.

A few other political changes are also coming in 2009 to the towns of Navajo County, which hosts about 112,000 residents and three American Indian tribes.

In a hotly contested race in the county’s southern tip, challengers Dave Renner and Mark Wessel won seats on the five-person Pinetop-Lakeside Sanitary District governing board.

Their platform was based on recycling “biosolids” from the local wastewater treatment plant to be used as composting sludge and applied as agricultural and landscaping soil conditioner. Wessel is a health professional and Renner is the former owner of a waste management company.

Other newly elected officials will take office next week in Navajo County. Among the new officials is Sheriff K.C. Clark, who had been serving as a commander of the Major Crimes Apprehension Team at the sheriff’s office.

Clark replaced Navajo County Sheriff Gary Butler, who retired after 20 years as the county’s top law enforcement official. Butler began his 42-year career in Scottsdale in 1967 before becoming the chief of police in Show Low and being elected county sheriff in 1988.

Also newly elected is Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon, who is also chairman of the Navajo County Democratic Committee. Carlyon was chief deputy county attorney in neighboring Apache County for four years and had previously been a Navajo County prosecutor. He replaces incumbent county attorney Mel Bowers, who retired.

In the Navajo County Board of Supervisors office, district 1 Supervisor Jonathan Nez defeated 20-year incumbent Percy Deal, who had been the first American Inidan to hold elected office in Navajo County. Also re-elected were District 2 Supervisor Jesse Thompson; District 3 Supervisor J.R. DeSpain; District 4 Supervisor David Tenney; and District 5 Supervisor Jerry Brownlow.

The newly elected Superior Court Judge in Division 2 is Carolyn Holliday, who defeated incumbent Dale Nielsen. Judge Holliday will join re-elected Superior Court Judge Michala Ruechel and Superior Court Judge John Lamb. The Arizona Supreme Court named Ruechel Presiding Judge of the county.

In the Kayenta Justice Court, Justice of the Peace Susie Nelson was re-elected. Newly elected Justice Precinct Constable Lorenzo Yazzie replaces Larry Wallen, who vacated the office in order to run – unsuccessfully, it turns out – for Navajo County Sheriff. Constable Dave Wood was elected in the Snowflake Justice Precinct.

Returning elected officials are County Recorder Laurette “Lori” Justman, Assessor Cammy Daris, Treasurer Manny Hernandez and Superintendent of Schools Linda Morrow.

Phoenix congregation unveils largest pipe organ in Arizona

A lot has happened in church music over the past few decades. Today, it’s common to see anything from guitars to drums to saxophones in a worship service, and contemporary Christian is one of the biggest-selling music categories in the country.

But long before Michael W. Smith, Jars of Clay and Mercy Me came on the scene, composer/musicians like J.S. Bach made a name for themselves, and their instrument of choice was the pipe organ. In the hands of an accomplished organist, there’s no single instrument more powerful or inspirational. I don’t care how good your Christian rock band is; it’s no match for the majesty of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor coming out of a great pipe organ. (If you’ve seen Disney’s Fantasia , you’ve heard the piece.)

Now, Arizona’s largest church pipe organ – 5,067 pipes in all – has been built at La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church at 6300 E. Bell Road in Phoenix. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of La Casa.)

The organ has been under construction since mid-June, when trucks full of pipes, blowers and other equipment arrived from Berghaus Pipe Organ Builders in suburban Chicago, one of about 45 pipe organ builders in the United States. Each pipe had to be “voiced,” or tuned, and the organ had to be configured so that the right pipes play together as the organist pulls various stops at the console.

The smallest pipe in the La Casa organ is about eight inches long. The tallest stands at 21 feet. Pipes are made from wood and a variety of metals, such as tin and copper. The facade of pipes at La Casa – those most visible to the congregation – has been designed to mimic Arizona’s desert landscape.

The congregation anticipates that renowned artists throughout the nation will come to present recitals on the new organ. Berghaus plans to sponsor concerts to showcase the instrument, which is the largest the company has built in the Southwest. The organ also should be of interest to Arizona State University, which has one of the best programs in the country for preparing professional organists.

In addition to building the organ, the congregation has taken other steps to strengthen its music program during the past year. Jennaya Robison, who holds a doctor of musical arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Arizona, became the director of music in late August. Homer Ashton Ferguson III, who recently received his doctor of musical arts degree in organ performance from Arizona State University, became the congregation’s organist on Dec. 1. Dr. Robison is making sure that if your tastes don’t run to organ music, you’ll still find something to appeal to you (including rock, jazz and spirituals).

The formal dedication of the organ takes place at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11. Several East Valley congregations will participate in an ecumenical chorus under the direction of Weston Noble, the Johnson professor emeritus of music at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

If you want a sneak peek, however, just show up for a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service. You can find more information at the La Casa Web site.

State unveils top 20 baby names of ‘08

PHOENIX — Arizona health officials released their annual batch of the most popular baby names today, showing that the bottom of the list for boys and girls have changed and a new No. 1 for boys’ names.

For boys, “Anthony” finally overcame “Angel” for the top seat. But Jonathan, Noah, Christian and Logan all fell off the list completely when compared with names from 2007.

For girls, “Isabella” held the top spot for the second year in a row. Yet Hannah and Nevaeh fell out of the top 20.

The top names for boys in 2008 (with 2007 in parenthesis) are:

1. Anthony (Angel)
2. Angel (Jose)
3. Daniel (Daniel)
4. Michael (Anthony)
5. Jacob (Jacob)
6. Alexander (David)
7. Ethan (Luis)
8. Jose (Ethan)
9. Joshua (Michael)
10. David (Christopher)
11. Andrew (Joshua)
12. Jesus (Alexander)
13. Christopher (Jesus)
14. Aiden (Andrew)
15. Joseph (Gabriel)
16. Gabriel (Joseph)
17. Adrian (Jonathan)
18. Luis (Noah)
19. Matthew (Christian)
20. Jayden (Logan)

The top names for girls in 2008 (with 2007 in parenthesis) are:

1. Isabella (Isabella)
2. Sophia (Emily)
3. Emma (Mia)
4. Emily (Sophia)
5. Mia (Ashley)
6. Abigail (Emma)
7. Madison (Madison)
8. Samantha (Ava)
9. Ava (Elizabeth)
10. Elizabeth (Samantha)
11. Ashley (Abigail)
12. Olivia (Natalie)
13. Alexis (Alyssa)
14. Natalie (Olivia)
15. Chloe (Hannah)
16. Alyssa (Alexis)
17. Brianna (Hailey)
18. Camila (Nevaeh)
19. Hailey (Brianna)
20. Victoria (Chloe)

The list was compiled by the Arizona Department of Health Services, which oversees birth certificates and vital records. This year, the office saw a 3.3 percent drop in total births in Arizona, from 96,552 to 93,355.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Homeless population skyrockets as economy sinks

PHOENIX — The homeless population in Phoenix is increasing as unemployment rates rise, leading to a shortage of shelter space as local governments freeze their support to shelters as well.

It’s a national issue that also applies to Phoenix, the fifth fastest-growing city area in the nation – until the economy tanked. Here, the unemployment rate rose 2.1 percent in one year, with 5.7 percent of the population out of work as of November, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Terri Leveton, of Phoenix Rescue Mission, says there has been an “astronomical” increase in the number of people coming to her shelter due to the economy. Officials at Central Arizona Shelter Services also claim to have had a significant increase of clients within the past few months.

CASS program director John Wall says the nonprofit built a men’s outreach shelter next to their main shelter three years ago that contains 325 beds. This is in addition to the 325 beds for men and the 115 beds for women at the main shelter.

Still, there is not enough space for everyone, he says.

“We’re full here all the time,” Wall says. “Now [the beds at both shelters] are full everyday, and an additional 200 people stay in the parking lot.”

Like Leveton, Wall blames a poor economy for the drastic increase at his shelter, saying that about half of the people are there because they have lost their jobs in the recession. Construction is the number one industry in Arizona, and it has now bottomed out, Wall says.

“Two years ago, you had probably 100,000 people working in the Valley in construction,” he says. “Now you might have 20,000.”

The now near 80,000 unemployed construction workers, who would have shopped and eaten at different places, have affected other businesses as well, Wall says.

“It has a rippling effect for the whole economy,” he says.

HOMELESS COUNT MISLEADING

Though the recession has definitely impacted many, the Maricopa Association of Governments’ annual homeless street count contradicts the shelters’ statements of a fast-growing homeless population.

The 2008 Homeless Street Count from January showed that there was a 23 percent decrease in the number of homeless found in Phoenix. MAG admits that bad weather was a factor in the count, since several embankments were washed away, but Wall believes the number was also low since police, who usually help in the count, were busy with the Super Bowl.

“I don’t think the lack of officers was necessarily a factor,” says Brande Mead, a human services planner for MAG. “We were able to get volunteers to cover the spots where officers normally counted.”

Wall says that even with volunteers helping, many would not be willing to go to certain areas without a police officer with them.

Though there is disagreement on January’s homeless count, CASS and MAG do agree that 2009’s count, which will take place Jan. 27, will show a significantly higher number.

“We are expecting some increases this year,” says Mead. “It has a lot to do with the economic crisis we’re in right now and the people who are experiencing homelessness for the first time.”

Out of the many who are experiencing homelessness for the first time, one man, who wished to remain anonymous, hopes to break free of it soon.

He is a 39-year-old carpenter who came to Phoenix from Oregon less than a year ago to learn how to place tile and stone from his cousin. He says he worked for about six to eight months, but his pay was on a percentage basis and was coming out to around $3 an hour.

“I really couldn’t afford to survive on $3 an hour,” he says.

The man, also a Navy veteran, now lives at CASS at level 3 and has been for over two months. CASS has a level system to organize their clients: level one is for basic needs like showers, food and shelter, level two clients are assigned a case plan and get their own cubicle, and level three is for veterans and those who have full-time jobs.

The carpenter now fulfills both requirements. He recently got a job building the interiors to elevators and hopes to leave the shelter soon. Although CASS allows for their clients to stay up to six months, he wants to leave as soon as possible.

“This really wasn’t a plan on being homeless kind of thing,” he says.

Though many people have fallen on hard times over the last few months, CASS and other homeless shelters throughout the Valley have programs to help people get back on their feet.

“Shelters are a short-term solution,” Wall says. “You need to stop the bleeding before you can start going forward.”

PUBLIC FUNDING UNCERTAIN

The long-term goal is to get people into permanent housing, and the shelter succeeds the majority of the time. Seventy-five percent of those who come to CASS do not return, Wall says.

CASS provides not only a place to stay for those in need, but assigns each client a case manager within three days to help develop a plan to get the individual out of homelessness. An employment services program also gives people resources to maintain a full-time job.

Even though the number of people without homes is rising in the city, the number of people getting out of homelessness is also remaining steady due in part to the services shelters like CASS provide.

“There is always someone coming in [CASS], and there is always someone leaving,” the level three carpenter says.

Though many shelters are trying hard to help their clients, there is only so much that can be done on a budget. The 2008 Phoenix Community Attitude Survey showed that the number one service residents are willing to pay more for is homeless services, but there is no plan to grant more money in next year’s budget.

With the city’s recent budget cuts, the Phoenix Human Services Budget Summary shows that the department is getting $57,000 or 0.1 percent less than last year. Though homeless programs should not be affected by this cut, there is no money to add either.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Woman sues Amphitheatre schools over son’s death

TUCSON — A local mom is suing northwest Tucson’s largest school district, claiming it and one of its bus drivers was negligent when her son died under the wheels of a bus in September.

Graciela Barajas is suing Amphitheatre Public School District on behalf of her deceased son, Kevin Barajas-Robinson. The 22-campus, K-12 district serves almost 16,200 kids living north and west of Grant Road and Campbell Avenue.

The bus driver, Steven Vecchiarelli, was driving a 2009 school bus south on Mountain Avenue toward Fort Lowell when he passed Barajas-Robinson, who was riding on a white-and-red mountain bike, the court complaint states. Vecchiarelli stopped at the red light while Barajas-Robinson continued to ride up alongside the bus.

According to the complaint, Vecchiarelli turned right onto Fort Lowell without a turn signal. About four seconds later, the on-board video camera showed the bus hitting Barajas-Robinson. He was thrown to the ground and crushed under the bus, whose right rear tire came to rest on his body, the complaint claims.

Although the district provides safety training for bus drivers, Barajas claims Vecchiarelli was negligent. She is suing the district in Pima County Superior Court. She is represented by Tucson lawyers Ted A. Schmidt, Dev K. Sethi, and Gregory J. Kuykendall.

More warning bells for Arizona newspapers

Sorry for being a worry-wart about Arizona news coverage, but I can’t help it. It’s a compelling story that Arizonans should be aware of.

This week’s latest sign comes from Lee Enterprises, parent company of the Arizona Daily Star and Arizona Daily Sun.

Reporters for the company’s flagship paper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, have written about the dire financial straits Lee now finds itself in because of a crushing debt load under which it may default. The St. Louis business media have picked up on this, which you can read about here.

When the company bought the Pulitzer chain in 2005, it took on $308 million in debt. Now accountants for KPMG are concerned that Lee’s purchase of newspapers held by the Pulitzer family – yes THAT Pulitzer family – is sinking Lee’s ship.

Apparently, the company has to figure out a way to refinance this before February, or it could face Chapter 11 (which was designed to help companies stay on life-support while they restructure debts with creditors). It’s a similar refrain that I wrote about in this post.

But given the economic climate these days, I’m wondering if a newspaper company can refinance $308 million. I have friends that can’t even refinance their condos.

The key issue here is that, no matter what happens, what impact will this have on news coverage in Tucson and Flagstaff? Both markets are dominated by Lee newspapers (Daily Star and Daily Sun, respectively) that feed local TV stations content and story ideas, and both newspapers are toward the top of the Lee Enterprises chain.

Rumor has it that the Star in Tucson – and thus the Sun in Flagstaff, as well – have undergone few, if any, layoffs to accommodate their financial situation and the dour economy overall.

Is the clock ticking? Or maybe this could be a good thing for Lee and both Arizona papers.

RELATED POST: A moment of silence for Valley Journalism

Female food inspector sues Arizona over equal pay

SAN SIMON — Officials for the Arizona Department of Agriculture paid male operations managers more than one of their female counterparts, even though she did the same work and other duties, a recent lawsuit claims.

The agency has more than 320 employees and a $23.9 million annual budget to oversee the movement of food, plants and animals in and out of Arizona. Diane Parker is suing the agency under the Equal Pay Act of 1963 for work she did while based out of San Simon, a small town near Willcox that’s 235 miles southeast of Phoenix.

In her six-page complaint, Parker claims she started work for the agriculture department in August 2004. She was quickly reassigned from field operations manager to port supervisor.

In February 2006, the complaint states, she was reassigned again to a regional manager position. While working under this title, she claims she was overseeing ports of entry at San Simon, Sanders and Duncan while still doing the work of her two previous positions. She also supervised the agency’s interior operations for Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Navajo and Apache counties – virtually the entire county bloc in eastern Arizona.

“Upon information and belief,” the complaint states, “all male Operations Managers of the Arizona Department of Agriculture were paid wages at a rate greater than paid to [Parker].”

The case is now in federal court in Tucson. Parker is represented by Safford lawyer Jared O. Smith.

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