Arizona Republic: “A Valley trucking magnate may have thought he’d washed his hands of the Phoenix Coyotes after selling the franchise last fall in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. But, it’s not over for Jerry Moyes. The National Hockey League has filed a lawsuit against him. The NHL seeks at least $61.6 million.”
In 2009 Rick Painter, Bishop of the Phoenix, Cathedral of Christ the King was charged with disturbing the peace and given a 10-day suspended jail sentence and three years probation for two counts. His crime – he caused the church’s bells to ring 13 times a day. St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish of Phoenix and First Christian Church of Phoenix joined Christ the King and sued in federal court to over turn the ruling. Last week Judge Susan Bolton ruled that Phoenix could not prevent the church from tolling its bells because the bell ringing is “sound generated in the course of religious expression.” Translation: when the church rings it’s bells it is a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Given the severe budget deficit Phoenix now has, I wonder how much time and money the Phoenix sound police has spent to date protecting the public from church bells? Will Phoenix waste more precious resources by appealing the decision?
Four creditors of Phoenix area carwash mogul Daniel “Danny” Hendon sued him, his business partners and his businesses claiming defendants owe over $50 million. The first lawsuit was filed last month in the Maricopa County Superior Court by M & I Marshall & Ilsley Bank. M & I claims that the defendants defaulted on a $13.8 million business loan. Danny is involved in over 90 businesses, but four of them recently filed for bankruptcy protection.
In another lawsuit Comerica Bank alleges that Danny Hendon and nineteen of related companies defaulted on a loan with a balance of $24.7 million. A third lawsuit was filed last month by Diversified Funding Group LLC, alleges that Danny Hendon and Robert Banovac owe more than $12 million on a commercial loan. Rightpath Limited Development Group LLC and HB Equities LLC are also defendants in this lawsuit. Rightpath invested in the now bankrupt lender Mortgages Ltd. It was was co-owned at one time by Hendon, Banovac and former partner Rick Burton. The fourth lawsuit was filed by Western Starr Aviation Management Inc., and Starr Aviation Marketing LLC. The plaintiffs in this lawsuit allege that Danny Hendon and Robert Banovac breached a contract and owe $100,000 in damages and expenses.
I love this statement by Danny’s lawyer, “we’re a little confused about why these lenders would come after Danny’s Family Companies like this.” Let me clear up any confusion. The plaintiffs allege that THE DEFENDANTS DEFAULTED ON THEIR OBLIGATIONS TO PAY MONEY. I think most people understand that if you borrow money and don’t pay it back, the lender has a tendency to sue to collect the debt.
The Arizona Education Association sued the Arizona Legislature and Governor Jan Brewer again because it believes that the AEA should determine how Arizona should spend money on education rather than the Arizona legislature. Last year the AEA sued the State of Arizona by filing a complaint directly with the Arizona Supreme Court, but the court threw the case out. Once again, believing it is special, the AEA filed its lawsuit with the Arizona Supreme Court rather than first filing it in the Superior Court, which is where the little people file lawsuits. A press release on the AEA’s website says:
policy changes made in the 3rd special session of the Arizona State Legislature aimed at teachers and other school employees. The policy changes allow arbitrary reductions in salary, prohibit seniority as a criterion for reduction in force, eliminate deadlines for issuing contracts, and limit employee rights to engage in professional association activities.
It’s just another battle in the never-ending war over who will run public schools, the teachers or somebody else? The AEA is particularly bent out of shape because of a new Arizona law that “prohibit
Under the new law, the balance of power has shifted. Now, teacher quality takes precedence over teacher seniority. What a concept. Inadequate teachers must now show improvement within 60 days of being informed of their sub-par performance. Gone is the 85 day (17 weeks or 4 months) improvement plan that used to be in place. Now, under-performing teachers can have their pay reduced without affecting the pay of better teachers. (We needed a law for this?)
That last statement deserves repeating. We needed a law for this? Unfortunately the answer is yes. The teachers’ union is adamantly opposed to anything that rates or rewards teachers based on teaching ability and success in the classroom. If Arizona is going to have an education system that works, i.e., that educates its children, the teachers and the teachers’ unions cannot control the system. Let’s not let the Arizona teachers remake Arizona education into the models of the New York City schools or the Los Angeles Unified School District. For more about the nightmares these systems have become see:
See the Goldwater Institute‘s “Union trying to bully Legislators into changing law” and a story in the Arizona Republic: “Arizona law changes way teachers contract with districts” and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s “Because Policy Matters.”
I just learned from a post on Above the Law that Tajudeen “Taj” Oladiran, a current candidate for Arizona Attorney General, has the dubious distinction of filing a motion in federal district court last year that was one of Above the Law’s five best motions of 2009. Above the Law says this about the five motions “We’re not in the business of filing pleadings at Above the Law, but there were five motions in 2009 that were outrageous enough to justify posting here.” The five motions are:
Above the Law also said, “we were surprised that he would file one of the craziest motions we’ve come across here at Above The Law.” After reading the candidate for Arizona Attorney General’s motion in the case of Oladiran vs. Suntrust Mortgage, Inc., I agree. Taj needs another year of motion writing in law school. Here are some gems from his motion:
Above the Law sought feedback from Taj and Taj responded. See Above the Law’s “Taj Lives! (And He’s Pissed), which contains a lengthy diatribe by Taj, including background from his perspective on the Oladiran vs. Suntrust Mortgage lawsuit. Taj’s background makes for interesting reading. For example, he says that after Suntrust loaned him $760,000 to buy a second home and his monthly loan payments went from $2,000+ to $9,000+, he “began researching the law governing the facts of my case. Surprisingly, what I discovered is that while my actions were financially dumb . . . .” A lot of non-lawyers could have reached that conclusion without researching the law.