“Ex-con runs beauty pageant that ousted its queen - MySanAntonio” plus 1 more |
| Ex-con runs beauty pageant that ousted its queen - MySanAntonio Posted: The executive director of the organization that runs the Miss San Antonio pageant served time in federal prison for a multi-million dollar healthcare fraud and a separate criminal tax case, court documents show. Caroline Haggard Flores, who became the director of the Miss Bexar County Organization Inc. in November, served part of a three-year sentence after the FBI and the IRS went after her in the mid-1990s. Flores, 61, burst back into the public spotlight last week when she was accused by Domonique Ramirez, 17, of helping engineer the decision to strip her of her Miss San Antonio title. As each side blamed the other for alleged contract violations, Ramirez sued and obtained a court order temporarily barring the organization from replacing her with First Runner-Up Ashley Dixon, 21. The lawsuit does not name Flores as a defendant but alleges Ramirez's dethroning was largely the result of Flores' exaggerations or lies. The organization's board president, Linda Woods, said it was because of Ramirez's insurbordination to Flores and the board. A hearing at Bexar County's presiding court is set for today to decide if the restraining order will be extended until the lawsuit is resolved. Flores' criminal history, meanwhile, which made headlines and TV news here in 1996 and 1997, raises questions about how the organization — which promotes education, charitable and civic involvement and whose pageant winners are part of Fiesta royalty — vets its executives. Flores could not be reached for comment. The organization's lawyer, Ben Wallis Jr., declined to address Flores' felony conviction or allegations by a prior Miss San Antonio who on Tuesday claimed she was stripped of her crown, too, in 2007, before Flores became the director. "This is a case that's in the courts. It should be allowed to be handled by the courts," Wallis said. Pressed about Flores' past, he said: "I have no personal knowledge of any of that. I don't know what that would have to do with the question that's before the court anyway." Flores pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare out of nearly $3.7 million, and to conspiring with personal injury lawyer Franklin Wright and his wife, Annette, in helping them hide income from the IRS. "She was indicted separately in two unrelated crimes," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Harris, who prosecuted her in the tax case. Flores ran Communicare Home Health Care Agency Inc., which filed more than 440,000 fraudulent Medicare claims, court records show. She also acted as the straw buyer of a posh home in Terrell Hills for the Wrights, who a jury decided conspired with a tax lawyer, Robert Barger, in hiding assetsfrom the IRS as Franklin Wright was telling the agency he was too poor to pay a $679,000 tax debt and offered to settle for $228,000, according to published reports. After taking a plea deal for a 36-month sentence, Flores testified against the Wrights and Barger. Franklin Wright was sentenced to a year in prison, Barger got 18 months. Court records show the government was pursuing collection of $3.4 million it said she owed as of 2009. Federal agents reported Flores' employees referred to her as "Cruella DeVille" because of alleged mistreatment and because of a white streak in her long black hair, according to court summaries. One of her lawyers at the time, Jimmy Parks Jr., said Tuesday he recalled her differently, as intelligent and personable with "a lot of class about her." Federal prison records show Flores served time from 1998 to 2000. After her release, she cut her hair and dyed it blonde, according to several involved in her case. Glynda and Ronald Coyle, who ran the Miss Bexar County Organization for several years, said Flores' past had come up before but wasn't an issue. They said Flores ran the organization's Miss San Antonio Outstanding Teen pageant for a year and a half before Glynda Coyle resigned as the MBCO director. Flores took the reins after Coyle left. "There was a rumor that there had been a case in the years past," Glynda Coyle said. "I never directly asked her how the case turned out." Ronald Coyle was MBCO board president for several years and helped choose Flores to lead the teen pageant. He said the organization does not conduct background checks and both he and his wife noted there were no issues with Flores during her time with the organization. "(The crimes) happened quite a while ago, and we talked about it as a board and nobody seemed to have a great problem with it," said Ronald Coyle, who also stepped down with his wife in November. He acknowledged that an ex-con running a beauty pageant wouldn't sit well with some, but added, "I don't know anybody who doesn't have anything in their closet at some point. I look to see what kind of person they are and if their heart's in the right place." Katie Gratia, who won Miss Bexar County 2005 and Miss San Antonio 2007, said Tuesday that she was forced to resign her Miss San Antonio crown and that the board gave it to a runner-up, Stephanie Flores, who is Flores' daughter. Gratia said she was accused of not attending scheduled functions. As in the Ramirez case, Gratia said the allegations against her were "exaggerations and lies." The Coyles denied that Flores had a role in Gratia's departure. They said Gratia was attending college in San Angelo, which conflicted with necessary appearances in San Antonio, and said she stepped down voluntarily, which allowed her to compete in other pageants. News Researcher Mike Knoop contributed to this report. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| A positive mental attitude benefits health, longevity and quality of life - Chicago Tribune Posted: What's wrong with being a Pollyanna? Absolutely nothing, according to the experts who say a positive mental attitude can benefit everyone as we age -- physically and emotionally. Studies say Research from the Harvard School of Public Health (first reported in 2001) links a more optimistic outlook with a lowered risk of heart disease in older men and University of Pittsburgh researchers report that optimistic women have less thickening of the carotid artery walls. That Women's Health Initiative Study (first reported in 2009 in an American Heart Association journal) suggests that a positive mental outlook is associated with reduced evidence of coronary heart disease and total mortality in postmenopausal women. "Thousand of articles in virtually all popular, medical, health and news journals tout the benefits of PMA on longevity and many other positive aspects of aging," says Dr. Peter Norvid, a geriatric specialist treating patients at Adventist Hinsdale and La Grange Memorial hospitals and medical director for Heartland Hospice. "Optimistic people live longer, have closer personal relationships and are able to deal with the negative things that happen to them in a way that allows them to continue to be able to be there for others so that others can help them." Conversely, pessimism has links to negative affects on health. "In 2000, Mayo Clinic researcher Toshihiko Maruta, M.D., published a 30-year study of 839 patients, indicating a pessimistic view was a risk factor for early death, with a 19 percent increase in the risk of mortality," says Ken Budd, executive editor, AARP The Magazine. "Even after adjusting for age and gender, pessimists had a higher mortality rate than those who tested as optimistic. Using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI], researchers found the way people explain life events -- with a positive outlook or a negative one -- directly related to their mortality." Walking definition A positive mental attitude encompasses the gamut of life's experiences. "It's believing in good times during bad times," says Budd. "It's feeling grateful for what you have instead of lamenting what you lack. It's believing not simply that the positive outweighs the negative in life, but that we can create positive feelings and actions; that we have the power to make ourselves happy and content. From an aging standpoint, it can also mean accepting limitations without surrendering to them." Norvid says that people with PMA are individuals who look at the glass as half full versus half empty. "I see many patients who despite their multiple medical problems are able to deal with life in a positive way and maintain their strong friendships and family relationships because of this," he says. Marrietta Sorensen, 74 of Clarendon Hills, is a walking, talking example of the PMA definition and how possessing it affects one's life. Sorensen suffered a stroke in 2002. The stroke affected the left side of her body. "I said from the beginning, 'It is what it is. If I have to be in a wheelchair and not have use of my left side, I can deal with it. I'm right-handed and can see, speak and still seem to be able to function mentally,'" she says, describing her thought process regarding the stroke. "I believe we have more control over our body than we realize." After months of rehab at Hinsdale Hospital Sorensen was able to drive again. Sorensen now volunteers in the surgical waiting room at Hinsdale Hospital as well at Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center in Downers Grove where she takes classes in the warm pool for her stroke and rheumatoid arthritis. "Positive mental attitude is believing in yourself, accepting whatever comes along, and learning to use whatever comes to grow and help others," she says. Sorensen also credits her faith and prayer for helping her to maintain a positive attitude. "Believing in a higher power helps me to accept the outcome in a troubled time," she says. "It's not praying for things but guidance." Outcomes and consequences As we age, the benefits of having a positive mental attitude are reflected in quantity and quality of life. "When it comes to longevity, a positive attitude is huge," says Budd. "If you believe that life is good, don't you want to experience it? It's clear [to me] that the people who thrive in their later years are the ones who view each day as an opportunity -- to learn, to grow, to savor life. "If you're in your late 70s and you're struggling with balance issues that cause you to fall, which approach is better: doing exercises that improve your balance, or confining yourself to a chair? A positive attitude fuels us to keep moving, keep doing, keep trying to find the beauty in life." Optimistic individuals are better able to handle the changes that we all face as we age, says Norvid, particularly in maintaining an attitude that continues to draw people to them. "Most individuals develop several chronic illnesses as they approach old age and those with PMA are able to face the challenges that go along with chronic illness and or disability. PMA affects the way we deal with pain, loss and disability. Individuals with PMA adapt to the changes that confront them and are able to continue to make others around them look forward to being with them. This is key to fostering and maintaining the relationships that help individuals through the difficult challenges of aging." As a person who deals with end of life issues, Norvid points out that a good attitude not only helps one face the challenges of living but the challenges of dying as well. "People who face end of life issues with acceptance and PMA can make those around them comfortable with death and this is truly a gift to those who care for the dying," he says. "By going through life review at the end of life, those who have lived with a PMA are able to leave memories behind that are treasured and held dear for many years." 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