General News

Mormon and Catholic Families' Football Prayer Challenge Heard The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in the divisive case brought by a Mormon and a Catholic family challenging prayers before high school football games. The questions by the Supreme Court Justices seemed to indicate that the justices were split on the issue, but that the majority may strike down the school's policy facilitating the prayers.

LDS Church Settles West Virginia Child Abuse Lawsuit Lawyers for the LDS Church and for Raleigh General Hospital have agrreed to settle a $750 million child abuse lawsuit out of court. The lawsuit accused the Church and the hospital of failing to report a case of child sexual abuse by an LDS Church member. Trial in the case was to begin next week.

Conference Tickets For Sale On Ebay Attract Non-Member When he ended up with extra tickets to attend the LDS Church's General Conference this weekend, one enterprising member put the pair of tickets up for sale on ebay, the well-known Internet auction site. The sale soon attracted a lot of attention from Salt Lake radio and television stations, echoing the attention following an attempt last summer to sell an LDS Temple recommend on ebay.

Local News

General Conference May Jam Downtown Salt Lake The expanded capacity for this coming weekend's LDS General Conference may cause traffic congestion in downtown Salt Lake as attendees fill not only the new 21,000-seat Conference Center, but also the 6,000-seat Tabernacle and 1,200-seat Assembly Hall. Weather permitting, another 2,000 could sit on Temple Square lawns listening to conference live through speakers on the square. The total, 30,200 people at one time, is one of the largest crowds Salt Lake City has ever seen.

Prosecutor Claims LDS Woman Ran Ponzi Scam An LDS woman who says she "lives my religion seven days a week," has been charged by U.S. prosecutors with leading an International Ponzi scheme that allegedly solicited more than $40 million. Montez Salamasina Ottley, 55, was charged in a 100-count indictment for mail or wire fraud, money laundering and other offenses that allegedly occurred between June 1997 and October 1998. Ottley was charged along with John Wright, 40; Shyuan Tan, 33; Stephen Marn, 65; Helen A. Schlapak, 59; and Rande Scott Worcester, 43. The offenses could result in lifetime prison sentences for each and fines totaling $2.75 million.

Sports

LDS Track Star Dies Of Cancer LDS returned missionary and champion hurdler Brooks Gibbons died Monday on esophageal cancer at age 26. Gibbons won the Big West conference 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles in 1995.

People

A Steve Young Pregnancy Confusion Is Steve Young's wife Barbara pregnant? That's what nurses at LDS Hosptial wondered when a doctor's answering service called asking for a prescription for Barbara Young's morning sickness. 49er quarterback Steve Young married Barbara Graham just two weeks ago, and the idea that Barbara might be pregnant thrilled the nurses.

LDS Bishop At Hub Of CIA LDS bishop Robert Walpole is often called upon to answer important questions about U.S. spies, nuclear missiles and the effects of nerve gas on Persian War veterans. Walpole is one of 12 national security officers who form the National Intelligence Council. He often briefs President Clinton's national security advisor, Sandy Berger, on strategic arms issues.

Arts & Entertainment

Hinckley's Book Drops On Best Seller Lists President Gordon B. Hinckley's book "Standing for Something" dropped from the New York Times Book Review's Best Seller's list. The book had been listed #4 in the Advice, How-to and Miscellaneous category, a smaller category than the Fiction and Nonfiction categories where most books appear. In the Times' on-line version, the book simply dropped to #5, but that is enough to drop it from the print version of the list.

Donny's 'Dreamcoat' hits the video shelves If you missed LDS daytime talk star Donny Osmond in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" as the show toured around North America a couple of years ago, you're now in luck. The video version of the show was released today and is now available in stores.

Business

Proposed Merger of Mormon Banks Dies The proposed merger of Zions Bancorporation and First Security Corp. finally died on Friday when Zions shareholders rejected the proposed merger. Only one-third of the shareholders approved the deal, which had been approved by First Security shareholders earlier in the month.

Proposed Merger of Mormon Banks Dies The proposed merger of Zions Bancorporation and First Security Corp. finally died on Friday when Zions shareholders rejected the proposed merger. Only one-third of the shareholders approved the deal, which had been approved by First Security shareholders earlier in the month.

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