Ron Hardin plunked down $20 to play in a Hemet Elks Lodge golf tournament at Golden Era Golf Course in San Jacinto on Friday. "Five dollars goes for prize money. The rest goes to charity," said Hardin, 71, of Hemet. None of the money goes to the golf course. The course, owned by the Church of Scientology, is available free of charge for nonprofit groups to use for fundraising events. "We don't charge them. That's our way of contributing to the ...

The Riverside County district attorney's office will not pursue criminal charges against two protesters cited for trespassing at the Church of Scientology compound outside San Jacinto. Prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to file charges after Mark Bunker and Douglas Owens were arrested and released Feb. 24 for blocking the driveway of Golden Era Studios on Gilman Springs Road. The two men were part of a small protest that formed after the Riverside County Board of Supervisors proposed a no-picketing ordinance ...

Two former employees who worked more than a decade at the Church of Scientology's Golden Era Productions enclave near Hemet have filed lawsuits alleging the church violated federal and state labor laws and engaged in human trafficking. Church of Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis called the lawsuits "utterly meritless," noting that hundreds of staff would boast about working conditions at the nearly 700-acre compound in Gilman Hot Springs. "Working conditions at Gold Base are nothing short of spectacular," Davis said. In separate ...

By JULIA GLICK The Press-Enterprise Riverside County supervisors Tuesday adopted restrictions on residential picketing despite opponents and Supervisor Bob Buster saying the ordinance could lead to costly litigation. The ordinance, supported by Supervisor Jeff Stone and representatives of the Church of Scientology, prohibits protesters within 30 feet of the property line of a residence they are targeting in unincorporated Riverside County. The rules are scheduled to go into effect in 30 days. "I can't support this ordinance," said Buster, the only ...

Protester cited at Golden Era studios Riverside County sheriff's deputies cited a protestor on suspicion of vandalism after he was placed under citizen's arrest Saturday when flowers were trampled at the Church's of Scientology's Golden Era Productions compound outside San Jacinto. Police cited and released Donald Myers, of West Hollywood, on misdemeanor vandalism for destroying about 100 plants, sheriff's Sgt. Lee Coffey said. Myers was part of a protest that came four days after the Riverside County Board of Supervisors passed ...

10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 By JULIA GLICK The Press-Enterprise Opponents of proposed picketing restrictions supported by the Church of Scientology raised questions Tuesday about Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone's relationship with the church's lawyer, Samuel Alhadeff. Stone has pushed supervisors for months to approve an ordinance that would limit protests targeting residences in unincorporated Riverside County, including dormitories at the church's compound near Hemet. Alhadeff has championed the ordinance on behalf of the church at several meetings. ...

By JULIA GLICK The Press-Enterprise Riverside County supervisors will reconsider today residential picketing restrictions that they suspended and sent back for revisions last month. The amended picketing ordinance set to be introduced today differs from the earlier one in that it would limit protests targeting residences in unincorporated Riverside County to 30 feet from the property line instead of 50 feet from the property line. Supervisor Jeff Stone has pushed for the ordinance, supported by the Church of Scientology. The church ...

Riverside County supervisors on Tuesday suspended enforcement of a newly approved picketing ordinance, backed by the Church of Scientology, and instructed county staff to return in one month with clearer rules. "I want to make things easier and simpler for everyone involved, particularly for the sheriff which has to enforce it," Supervisor Bob Buster said of the picketing ordinance. "We don't want to pass ordinances that are used in an incorrect way to ... intimidate people from exercising their rights." Last ...

Riverside County supervisors Tuesday fast-tracked and unanimously approved an ordinance that restricts picketing outside homes and a Church of Scientology base near Hemet. Supervisors deemed the restrictions urgent and voted to forgo regular statutory proceedings, which include a second hearing. The ordinance went into effect after its introduction Tuesday despite unresolved questions about exactly how rules will apply to the Scientology base. The new ordinance, backed by the church and Supervisor Jeff Stone, stipulates that pickets must remain at least 50 ...

Riverside County supervisors are set to vote Tuesday on a revised ordinance to limit picketing at residences and outside the Church of Scientology's base in Gilman Hot Springs. The proposed ordinance, supported by the church and Supervisor Jeff Stone, would restrict picketing to 50 feet beyond the property line of a targeted residence or to an across-the-street sidewalk. Stone is also urging supervisors to approve an urgency ordinance Tuesday. If at least four supervisors approve that urgency measure, the limits on ...