A former executive of a Scottsdale-based real estate investment firm was charged with embezzling $11 million from the company in an elaborate fraud scheme for seven years, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office announced Wednesday.

 NEW YORK - College endowments and state pension funds plowed billions of dollars into hedge funds and private-equity investments as a way to balance their stock holdings, and for a time they got supercharged returns.

The announcement this week that Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is under criminal investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for reportedly “illegally collaborating with his campaign committee to raise campaign funds, promising a job to the leader of that committee and helping funnel money, an estimated half-million dollars, from his brother-in-law to the committee” is just the latest in a series of questionable acts involving Horne.

Start looking for a nasty presidential election campaign. Obama has nothing to brag about so he is looking to tear down Romney and Obama is wide open to be ripped about because his leadership has been so weak.

Miss America 2003, Erika Harold, says she was bullied as a ninth-grader back in Urbana, Ill. It sounds awful.

NEWTON, Mass. - Crossing the main quad at Boston College, visitors can’t miss the billiondollar view.

WASHINGTON - It's been almost an article of faith: Any recession this year will be mild and brief.

The pressure from the Obama administration for Arizona to expand our Medicaid program is enormous. Gov. Brewer is on board and even some legislative conservatives seem to be wavering. But legislators should take one more look before they make what could be a fateful leap.

New Valley development usually translates to a sea of red tile roofs and cul-de-sacs, but Mesa has drawn a line in the sand against bland suburbia in one emerging part of the city.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A coalition of seven western states and three Canadian provinces on Tuesday offered its most detailed strategy yet for controlling greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change, saying they hope it will stand as a model for national systems in the United States and Canada.

WASHINGTON —Tamara Draut does not think frustrated young adults are “whiny.” Or “lazy.” Or “spoiled.” Or any of the other insults that are routinely tossed at them by their elders these days.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Arena Football League and its players reached a collective bargaining agreement that could clear the way for play to resume in 2010.

Weekday mornings this summer, 11-year-old Genesis Ayala rises at 5 a.m., gets ready and boards a school bus by 6:20 a.m. at Desert Garden Elementary School in Glendale.

Weekday mornings this summer, 11-year-old Genesis Ayala rises at 5 a.m., gets ready and boards a school bus by 6:20 a.m. at Desert Garden Elementary School in Glendale.

August 29, 2004

Mayo Clinic Scottsdale is positioning itself to become a leader in cancer research in the southwestern United States.

A prominent East Valley commercial real estate family is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person driving the silver pickup truck involved in a hit-and-run that killed Daniel Pollack.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to place his signature Tuesday on the $787 billion economic stimulus bill. Unfortunately, the cost of debt and future taxes required to finance the stimulus largesse have largely been ignored to date.

Rebecca Warren: Even if you’ve planned relatively well for your future college student’s expenses, the credit crunch and downturn in investment income for colleges have changed the game for financial aid at many schools.

PASADENA, Calif. - The two men who run Berkshire Hathaway have an arrangement: Warren Buffett is the face of the company and Charlie Munger stays mainly in the shadows. That works well for the two billionaires, who together have developed one of the most successful investment records ever.

Home remodeling can be stressful — especially if you have a gutted kitchen with only a sink and a microwave and have six children to feed. But for Ahwatukee Foothills homeowner Lisa Baker, the headaches that accompany a major remodel were preferable to the overwhelming thought of moving.

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. is diving into the business of offering online searches of books and other writings, and says its approach aims to avoid the legal tussles met by rival Google Inc.

Lawyer Frank Hanna first studied mediation in one of the world capitals of dispute — war-torn Northern Ireland.

Our Valley is often compared with the Seattle area. Seldom favorably.