Yarnell residents file lawsuit against Arizona State Forestry Division

June 25, 2014 By John Dougherty Leave a Comment

More that 180 Yarnell residents and business owners today filed a lawsuit against the Arizona State Forestry Division alleging that the state acted with “extreme negligence” in responding to and controlling the Yarnell Hill Fire that destroyed much of the town and killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots last June 30.

The lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court is the first of several expected to be filed this week as the deadline for filing lawsuits within one year of the tragic wildfire approaches.

The lawsuit provides a detailed timeline alleging the state was negligent by failing to quickly respond to the lightning-caused fire on the evening of June 28 and subsequently deploying inadequate resources to manage the wildfire after it escaped the initial attack on the afternoon of June 29.

“The Arizona State Forestry Division committed extreme negligence by entrusting management of the Yarnell Hill Fire to a low-level, exhausted, negligent, situationally unaware, inadequately experienced and overwhelmed Type 4 Incident Commander,” alleges the lawsuit filed by the Scottsdale law firm Knapp & Roberts P.C.

“What’s bothered me from the beginning is why this (fire) was not put out the first day,” says attorney Craig Knapp. “I just don’t get it.”

Knapp says Yarnell firefighters and volunteers were told to “stand down” by state forestry officials on the evening of June 28 when the fire was smoldering near the peak of the Weaver Mountains west of Yarnell.

They “should have attacked it when it was small,” Knapp says. “It takes very little resources and you can save millions of dollars and lives. They just didn’t do that.”

Knapp said his firm intends to file additional lawsuits this week including a class action suit on behalf of Yarnell residents who are not identified as plaintiffs in today’s claim and wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of families of three members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

InvestigativeMEDIA’s John Dougherty named Runner Up for State’s Top Journalism Honor

June 3, 2014 By Investigative Media Leave a Comment

InvestigativeMEDIA’s John Dougherty was awarded First Runner up in the Arizona Press Club’s Virg Hill Journalist of the Year contest Saturday night for his reporting on the Yarnell Hill Fire.

The Arizona Republic’s Bob Ortega received top honors for the state’s most prestigious journalism award. Evan Wyloge of the Arizona Capital Times was named second runner up.

“I’m delighted and honored for my one-person news operation to have been named a finalist for this award competing against major daily and weekly newspapers,” Mr. Dougherty said.

“Congratulations to Mr. Ortega for winning top honors for his excellent work on immigration issues and Mr. Wylodge for his important reporting on lobbying at the state Capitol,” he said.

The contest was judged by three out-of-state judges including Kathy Best, editor of the Seattle Times, Brad Schrade, a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Mark Katches, editorial director for the Center of Investigative Reporting in Berkeley, Calif.

Mr. Schrade described Mr. Dougherty’s work as “powerful, aggressive reporting. Dougherty’s determination to get at what went wrong raised accountability questions about the events that led to the Yarnell Hill fire tragedy. His immersion in the story produced significant information on a major state and national story.”

Mr. Dougherty, 57, has won the Virg Hill honors three times and has been named first runner up on three occasions.

Global Mining Observer reports on checkered past of Augusta Resource’s executives based on InvestigativeMEDIA’s research

May 17, 2014 By John Dougherty Leave a Comment

The London-based Global Mining Observer on Friday published a summary of information previously reported by InvestigativeMEDIA on the business backgrounds of the key executives of Augusta Resource Corporation which is seeking permits to build the controversial Rosemont open-pit copper mine southeast of Tucson.

The widely read independent mining journal highlighted InvestigativeMEDIA’s reporting on Augusta chairman Richard Warke’s 1998 bankruptcy that was hidden from investors in regulatory disclosures by public companies where Warke served on the board of directors including Vancouver, B.C.-based Augusta Resource.

The journal also reported on statements from InvestigativeMEDIA’s documentary “Cyanide Beach” about a former business associate’s assessment of Warke’s honesty. InvestigativeMEDIA’s entire report on Augusta Resource’s executives business history can be found here:

Augusta Resource’s top officers have a history of bankruptcies, cease trade orders and stock exchange delistings

InvestigativeMEDIA’s complete report on Warke and fellow Augusta board members investments in a Sardinian gold mine can be found here:

A Sardinian gold mine unearths the deceptive business tactics of Rosemont Copper’s top executives

InvestigativeMEDIA’s “Cyanide Beach” documentary on the Sardinian gold mine is here:

Charles Keating's Techniques Were Replicated By Those who Helped Trigger the 2008 Financial Collapse

April 3, 2014 By John Dougherty Leave a Comment

By John Dougherty

This story was written for InvestigativeMEDIA and Published Thu., Apr. 3 2014 at 6:00 AM by Phoenix New Times.

Charles H Keating Jr. is remembered not only as the most notorious figure of the savings & loan crisis that swept the nation in the late 1980s – and as the namesake of the infamous Keating Five political scandal – but also as the fraudster whose techniques were replicated by those who helped trigger the 2008 financial collapse and Great Recession. [Read more…]

InvestigativeMEDIA posts supporting documentation for ADOSH Yarnell Hill investigation

March 20, 2014 By John Dougherty 14 Comments

InvestigativeMEDIA today posted the supporting documentation for the Arizona Department of Safety and Health investigative report into the Yarnell Hill Fire disaster that killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots last June 30.

The investigative report, which includes audio interviews of key personnel who fought the fire including Granite Mountain’s only surviving member, is located here. [Read more…]