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Saving Nicholas

He was hurt by his mother, ripped away from the foster parents who loved him and put in an institution where he was abused. That's when Alice and Ellery Riha really decided to fight.

By Brian Wallstin
Oct 18, 2001

Except for Alice and Ellery Riha, who chose to be identified, and the health and social workers, the names of everyone in this story, including Nicholas, have been changed. There is nothing about Nicholas to suggest he is anything but a typical ten-year-old suburban kid. He is tall and fit,...
Holistic Touch

Some ex-patients credit the mind-body therapy of New Age healer JoAnne Mandel with saving their lives. Others say her compassion stopped at the bottom line.

By Brian Wallstin
Jul 17, 1997

Before he met JoAnne Mandel, Steven Berk seemed headed toward a bad end. Berk had a fierce appetite for alcohol and drugs, suffered from depression and an eating disorder, and had almost lost the will to look after himself. Desperate to get a grip on his life, Berk entered an...
Coffee with Betti and the FBI

Lightning strikes the ReBates Hotel; death toll unknown

By Steve McVicker and Brian Wallstin
May 16, 1996

By Thursday, May 2, Betti Maldonado had grown very nervous over her association with the Cayman Group, two investors seeking a piece of developer Wayne Duddlesten's contract to build a city-subsidized hotel near the George R. Brown Convention Center. The men, supposedly wealthy South Americans named Carlos Montero and Marcos...

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