As is the norm on Sundays, the paper puts some resources into a few strong stories.

The paper’s lede, nearly 2500 words by reporter Catherine Reagor, examines how shenanigans at county foreclosure sales are corrupting the process:

When foreclosure homes come up for public auction in Phoenix, a minimum opening bid is set and bidding is open to anyone.

At least that is the way it’s supposed to work.

But a Republic investigation into the daily public auctions held on the Maricopa County Courthouse steps and at some local law offices suggests a growing number of homes are sold for less than the posted opening bid.

Prices on some foreclosure homes are being dropped below the opening bid just hours or even minutes before the auction. Buyers aware of the “drop bids” scoop up the houses before other bidders know about the price drops.

There’s another good story in the living section: Richard Ruelas’ portrait of Don Logan, the Scottsdale diversity officer who got a bomb in the mail five years ago. It’s an engrossing look both at Logan’s personal history and also the almost absurd cruelty that nearly killed him in 2004:

[H]e got a strange feeling about the package. He shook the parcel, listening for rattling. Then he stood to the side, leaned the box away from him and cut the packing tape. He felt heat and saw smoke.

The seconds following the explosion are a blur. Logan remembers running down a hallway, feeling the hot sting of metal shards embedded in his forearm. He looked down and saw blood. Then he was outside, staring up at the sky, wondering what had happened.

Investigators later told Logan that if he hadn’t held the parcel at the irregular angle, the 2-inch-wide hole that was bored into his receptionist’s counter would have been in his chest. They also told him that he was a novelty; they had never spoken with someone who opened a mail bomb and survived.

A pair of white supremacist brothers, Dennis and Daniel Mahon, are set for trial on the murder attempt next year.