General News

LDS Church to Lay New Nauvoo Temple Cornerstones Sunday At noon on Sunday, LDS Church officials will lay the four cornerstones of the new Nauvoo Temple, following as much as possible the way the cornerstones were originally laid on April 6, 1841. The ceremony will include hymns from the Church's first hymnal performed by two choirs. Several LDS General Authorities will attend the ceremony.

Mother's Complaints Lead to Canadian Investigation of FLDS Church Lenore Holm objected when her Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints Church leaders determined that her 16-year-old daughter should marry a 39-year-old Utah polygamist. But her daughter was then taken to British Columbia to an FLDS commune there without Holm's permission. Holm, who has been excommunicated by the FLDS Church, is now fighting back, filing complaints with Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police and with Utah's special investigator of "closed societies," Ron Barton.

LDS Church Starts 'Visitor's Center' Mission in Nauvoo The LDS Church has formed its 334th mission from the 200 missionaries working in Nauvoo's Visitors Center, construction projects and BYU center. The Illinois Nauvoo Mission will include missionaries that conduct tours and answer questions, but who generally don't proselyte or baptize. The mission is similar to the Church's Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission.

Local News

LDS Bishop Excommunicated, Indicted on Sexual Abuse Charges An Associated Press report in today's Salt Lake Tribune says that a now-excommunicated LDS Bishop has been indicted for sexual abuse of a 17-year-old girl. The indictment alleges that Gordon Brent Bodily of Hyrum, Utah lured the girl from North Carolina to Salt Lake City, according to the indictment filed in federal court on Wednesday.

Mormons Oppose 'Godspell' At Ogden, Utah High School News that a group of Mormon parents in Ogden, Utah have forced Ogden High School to scale back and postpone a planned production of the musical "Godspell" has made newspapers outside of Utah. The high school changed the production from a school-sponsored play, paid for with state money, to a student drama club production, paid for with donations.

Prosecutors Indict Suspect in Murder of LDS Mother Prosecutors have uncovered enough evidence in the murder of an LDS mother to file an indictment against a suspect in the case, raising the hope of justice for her family. Daniel Wade Moore, 26, was indicted Wednesday for the March 1999 murder of 39-year-old LDS mother Karen Croft Tipton.

Sports

Will Reid be Issued a Mission Call . . . to BYU? A new article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer suggests that a BYU offer to Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid may be made into something like a mission call. Following its assertion Wednesday that LDS Church officials were pressuring Reid to take the job, the Inquirer quotes "a friend of Reid" as saying that Church officials have been talking to Reid about the positon for months now.

Politics

LDS-backed Coalition Raised Most Funds for Nebraska DOMA Vote With the November US elections less than a week away, campaign finance disclosures show that the pro-Defense of Marriage forces in Nebraska have raised five times that of the state's anti-DOMA group. The LDS Church-supported Coalition for the Protection of Marriage reported that it has raised the most, about $730,000 so far, most of which appears to have come from out-of-state LDS donors.

Arizona's LDS House Speaker Faces Heat Over Alternative Fuel Program A high level of participation in a predominately LDS neighborhood in Mesa, Arizona in a federally funded program by the Environmental Protection Agency, has spurred a criminal investigation by the Department of Commerce. On Friday, Attorney General Janet Napolitano announced a criminal investigation into more than 20,000 applications that have been submitted for an alternative-fuel vehicle rebate program.

People

Phoenix Journalist Says Laake Blamed Mormons for Her Mental Illness In a tribute to Mormon journalist Deborah Laake, who committed suicide earlier this year, Phoenix journalist Terry Greene Sterling says that Laake blamed her clinical depression on "Mormonism and the men in her life." Laake was the author of the controversial tell-all "Secret Ceremonies," which detailed LDS Temple ceremonies and led to her excommunication from the LDS Church.

Mormon Businessman in Australia Promotes Sperm Donation A Mormon businessman, owner of the well-known international franchise Jim's Mowing, promoted his views on sperm donation in an article in the Melbourne, Australia Age. Jim Penman founded the $70 million franchiser, which has sold more than 1,600 franchises in Australia, Canada, the US and elsewhere.

Arts & Entertainment

President Hinckley attends MOA gallery opening President and Sister Hinckley, along with BYU President, Merrill J. Bateman attended the official opening of the Robert W. and Amy T. Gallery on Friday, October, 27. Following a dinner and a ribbon cutting ceremony the work of Minerva Teichert, a young artist in the early 1900's, was on display including her first mural, now over 80 years old. Teichert's pieces are part of the new gallery funded by Amy and the late Robert Barker.

Business

Like Old Clamshell, New Big Mac Container Made by Mormon Firm About 30 years after Jon Huntsman's Huntsman Chemical Corporation manufactured the first McDonald Big Mac Clamshell container, another Mormon-run firm is making a new container for the sandwich. Baltimore, Maryland-based EarthShell Corp., is just weeks away from completing McDonald's validation testing on the new container. But this time, the container isn't likely to be criticized for its effect on the environment.

Business

KZION Radio May Begin Independent LDS Radio The modest KZION Internet radio station started this past week may be the beginning of independent Internet for members of the LDS Church. The new station currently streams a play list of LDS songs to anyone that wants to listen. The emergent station has reached agreements with 6 LDS musicians and will soon double that number.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]