General News

LDS Church Opposes ACLU's Amendment To Main Street Lawsuit The complexity of the main street lawsuit continues to grow. The LDS Church's attorney's filed a memorandum Thursday opposing the American Civil Liberty Union's attempt to amend its federal lawsuit against Salt Lake City and the LDS Church over the sale of a block of Main Street by the city to the Church. The ACLU is seeking to bolster its claim that restrictions in the sale placed on the use of the property are unconstitutional, violating the First and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The amended lawsuit also argues that the city's administrators obscured facts and skirted city processes to push through the sale.

Mormons appeal steeple ruling Lawyers for the LDS Church filed an appeal on Monday of a judge's ruling that limits the height of the steeple on the Boston Massachusetts Temple to just 14 feet above the height of the building. The appeal, filed with Middlesex Superior Court, seeks to reinstate a Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals' decision to allow a 139-foot steeple (from the ground -- the building is 58 feet high) on the building.

Local News

3 LDS Bishops Can't Be Charged For Failing To Report Sex Abuse The county prosecutor in Logan, Utah says he can't prosecute three LDS bishops for failing to report alleged child abuse by 44-year-old Jay Toombs of Benson, Utah. Toombs faces three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child for fondling a 10-year-old boy in 1993 and 1994.

Sports

Missionary Returns To Face Firebombing Charges An LDS missionary serving in New York City has returned from his mission to face charges in connection with a 1998 firebombing that destroyed a Salt Lake home. Sione Havili, 20, a star running back at East High School in Salt Lake City had hoped to attend BYU after overcoming academic problems on his return this fall. However, he was implicated in the firebombing by an accomplice, who plead guilty to a reduced charge.

People

LDS Man Killed In Arlington Texas Hotel Room An LDS man, reportedly a counselor in the bishopric of his ward, was discovered dead, bound and gagged in a North Arlington, Texas hotel room Wednesday, March 22nd, the apparent victim of a random robbery attempt. Robert Neal Allen, 44, was a Federal Aviation Administration inspector from Ypsilanti, Michigan who was in Texas on business. Police have no suspects in the murder. A hotel housekeeper at the Fairfield Inn discovered his body.

LDS Conservative Howard Ruff Takes On Hillary Clinton LDS investment guru and conservative political activist Howard Ruff is sounding dire warnings and pledging to raise "whatever it takes" to prevent the election of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton as U.S. Senator from New York. Ruff's political action committee, Ruffpac, has paid for and will soon air in upstate New York a TV spot critical of Mrs. Clinton.

Arts & Entertainment

Nationally Released Book Tells History Of Universe According To LDS Doctrine On the heels of LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley's groundbreaking book communicating common values to a non-LDS audience, a new book from a national publisher seeks to explain LDS doctrine in clear terms, free of LDS jargon and correlation. Coke Newell, who manages the LDS Church's Media Resource Development, has written a new book, "Latter Days," for St. Martin's Press, which released it to Utah bookstores this week and will release the book nationally on April 5th.

Elders Oaks & Wickman Write Chapter For Ecumenical Book On Proselyting Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Lance B. Wickman of the Second Quorum of the Seventy have written a chapter for the new book, "Sharing the Book: Religious Perspectives on the Rights and Wrongs of Proselytism" from ecumenical publisher Orbis Books. The book contains chapters from various religions on their histories and experience balancing proselyting with respecting the human rights of those that hear their messages.

Business

First Security Shareholders Say Yes, But Zions' May Not Shareholders of First Security Corp. approved its proposed merger with Zions Bancorp Wednesday, as expected, leaving the fate of the deal up to Zions shareholders, who will vote on the deal March 31st. However, the Zions shareholder vote could be a big hurdle, since recent events have made the deal much less appealing to them, and recent comments by Zions executives put even their support of the pact in doubt. Both banks have pioneer Mormon roots and are run by predominantly Mormon management teams.

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