Miyagishima said when he first initiated his "Drug-Free Marshal" program, he was unaware that it was funded by Scientology. A sticker on the back of badges given to area third-graders identifies them as being "a trademark owned by the Church of Scientology International." The real concern was not so much the badges, but pamphlets that were to have been distributed to fifth-graders. Those pamphlets condemned not only illegal street drugs, but also legal drugs such as Ritalin that Scientologists strongly oppose. ...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today rejected taxpayers Michael and Marla Sklars’ argument that they were entitled to claim deductions for tuition and fees paid to their children’s Orthodox Jewish day schools, the Justice Department announced. The Sklars sought charitable deductions under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code for portions of their tuition payments made to the religious day schools their children attended, asserting that those portions of the tuition payments were for “intangible ...

RIVERSIDE – Concerned that a proposed anti-picketing ordinance might be too restrictive – and that it did not address the issue that inspired it – the Board of Supervisors Tuesday backed away from the measure, but indicated it may be brought back in different form. “I don't agree we should abandon this completely, but I want us as united on this as possible,” said Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, who sponsored the measure. “It's not an attempt to limit the right ...

LAS CRUCES — The city of Las Cruces is ending an anti-drug program aimed at third-graders after learning it was backed by the Church of Scientology. The Drug-Free Marshal program started in late November. It had been presented to five schools, but was intended to be promoted eventually among all third-graders in the Las Cruces Public Schools. Mayor Ken Miyagishima says it wasn't his intention to promote the religion in the schools. The mayor says he was approached this summer by ...

Riverside County supervisors Tuesday backed off from picketing restrictions supported by the Church of Scientology that supervisors had preliminarily approved last month. Supervisors stopped final approval of the ordinance and voted unanimously to re-examine its prohibition on picketing within 300 feet of a targeted residence. They agreed to have county counsel and staff retool the ordinance in consultation with the county sheriff's office and Samuel Alhadeff, an attorney representing the Church of Scientology. "I think we may be going too far ...

RIVERSIDE – With two colleagues prepared to vote against the measure, Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone on Tuesday temporarily withdrew his proposed ban on protests that target and take place in front of homes. Stone said that, in consultation with county lawyers, he will try to tweak the ordinance so it lets protesters picket residences for what he considers legitimate purposes, such as when they are home to sex offenders, without trespassing on the constitutional right to free speech. Legal experts, ...

Le match des vieilles jambes du Canadien et des Nordiques représentait plus qu’une rencontre amicale pour Claude Lapointe. Elle se voulait sa première sortie dans son ancien milieu de travail à quelques semaines de la fin d’une longue cure de désintoxication. Grâce à l’aide et aux outils que lui a remis le centre de réhabilitation pour toxicomanes Narconon, de Trois-Rivières, Lapointe croit qu’il a brisé sa dépendance à la cocaïne, cette poudre blanche qui a mis fin à sa carrière et ...

The Washington Times recently reported the curious appointment by Governor Martin O’Malley of John P. Coale to the Board of Directors of UMMS (University of Maryland Medical System). Coale is a high-ranking Scientologist and trial lawyer who got rich from the “tobacco wars” and has particpated in Scientology’s assault on Ritalin, taking on not only its manufacturer, Novartis, but the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and patient advocacy group CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Defict Disorder). Coale is a member of ...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – It's a program aimed at getting kids off the streets and away from drugs. But now Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima is saying "not so fast." The program is called the Drug-Free Marshall Program, and it was quite a hit until the mayor found out it was sponsored by the Church of Scientology. Miyagishima said he was originally approached about the program in the summer. He said he liked the purpose and tried it in five different ...

Le gérant du Zellers des Galeries de la Capitale, Gaëtan Verrette, sent qu’il s’est fait « jouer » par des représentants de l’Église de la scientologie qui n’ont pas dévoilé leur identité pour obtenir un stand dans son magasin, hier, provoquant le mécontentement de certains clients. M. Verrette a affirmé qu’un représentant de l’Église l’avait contacté, la semaine dernière, pour louer un stand dans son établissement, mais qu’il n’avait pas dévoilé son appartenance à la scientologie, approche que le gérant a ...

LAS CRUCES — The city is immediately ending an anti-drug program aimed at third-graders after it was revealed it was created and bankrolled by the Church of Scientology. The "Drug-Free Marshal" program, started in late November, had only been presented to five schools but was intended to be promoted eventually among all third-graders in the Las Cruces Public Schools. Mayor Ken Miyagishima apologized Saturday and said it was not his intention to promote the religion. The mayor said he was approached ...

A security guard who shot and killed a man wielding samurai swords on the grounds of a Scientology facility in Hollywood will not face criminal charges, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Wednesday. The decision by prosecutors was in line with the conclusion of Los Angeles police detectives, who determined that the guard, a 64-year-old retired Seal Beach police officer, acted in defense of himself and other guards at the church's Celebrity Centre. A former Scientologist, Mario Majorski, 48, ...

Last week we learned that Amazon.co.uk has bowed to pressure to stop selling a book by a former senior Irish Scientologist. The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology (Merlin Publishing, Dublin) describes John Duignan's 21 years in the religion, not all of it a happy tale. According to Amazon, "Unfortunately, we have had to withdraw The Complex by John Duignan in the UK because we received a specific allegation that a passage in the book ...

A controversial drug rehab program on Albuquerque's West Side may be on the verge of losing its state funding. Second Chance has been ridiculed for its expensive carrot juice and sauna approach to cleaning up addicts and now, some people are questioning whether it's a good use of taxpayer dollars. "Lets put that money, especially right now, when were on real hard economic times, lets put that money where we know it has a proven successful track record," said Bernalillo County ...

A. Rhodes Wilson wants to use his single-family home on Easton Road as a mission for the Church of Scientology. Looking for approval from the Plumstead Township Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Wilson, represented by Doylestown attorney Robert Gundlach, testified he intends to keep the house exactly as it is but convert its use to a place of worship. Wilson is the church's Bucks County mission's director and would lease the home to the church. He does not there. Gundlach presented ...

The young cast of the Valley’s newest holiday pageant is all atwitter. Opening night is only a week away, and for the first time, the pre-teen actors are getting a glimpse of their costumes. The young cast of the Valley’s newest holiday pageant is all atwitter. Opening night is only a week away, and for the first time, the pre-teen actors are getting a glimpse of their costumes. But something is profoundly askew at Tempe’s Stray Cat Theatre. Where one might ...

PROSPECTIVE purchasers and commercial real estate agents were left standing at the altar again this week, after the Church of Scientology abandoned the sale of its city headquarters, just hours before a scheduled auction. The Church blamed planning delays, and other issues concerning the development of its new headquarters, as the reason it cannot vacate its 4-level Melbourne home of almost 30 years. This excuse was cold comfort for the dozens of investors who had shown an interest in the 42 ...

The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of The Church of Scientology by John Duignan with Nicola Tallant, Merlin Publishing, Dublin. The Scientologists have been doing their damnedest to stop the international publication of John Duignan’s memoir The Complex. Following legal representations, it is no longer possible to buy the book, published in Ireland by Merlin, from Amazon.co.uk. That made me curious, so I had a copy sent direct from Dublin. Here’s my review. In places, Duignan – a former ...

PROSPECTIVE purchasers and commercial real estate agents were left standing at the altar again this week, after the Church of Scientology abandoned the sale of its city headquarters, just hours before a scheduled auction. The church blamed planning delays, and other issues concerning the development of its new headquarters, as the reason it cannot vacate its four- level Melbourne home of almost 30 years. This excuse was cold comfort for the dozens of investors who had shown an interest in the ...

A man shot and killed Sunday in front of a Scientology building in Los Angeles was a Florence resident who was on probation for stalking a Lane County judge. Also, he recently had served time in a Florence jail for threatening a tow truck driver. A security guard shot Mario Majorski, 48, after Majorski threatened guests and another security guard with samurai swords at the Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, Los Angeles police said. Majorski, who had numerous addresses in Los ...

When he was a UCLA student 15 years ago, Mario Majorski was a committed enough Scientologist that he helped file a federal lawsuit against a professor who called the church a cult. On Sunday, Majorski stormed the church's Celebrity Centre in Hollywood with a sword in each hand. He was shot dead by a security guard who police say had every reason to fear for his life and the lives of hundreds of others gathered on the property. The reasons for ...

The Church of Scientology's concerns about protesters outside their Gilman Hot Springs base led Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone to seek and gain approval Tuesday for county restrictions on picketing in residential neighborhoods. Only Supervisor Bob Buster voted against the ordinance, which forbids demonstrators from coming within 300 feet of a home they are targeting in unincorporated Riverside County. Buster said a 300-foot buffer would effectively quash demonstrations outside residences. He said the ordinance threatens free-speech rights. Stone said that protesters ...