A local lawyer and political consultant are hired to help break down barriers for Scientology. It was a sticky decision and everyone in the room knew it. Bennetta Slaughter, the charismatic businesswoman whose tireless committee work had impressed so many, was being nominated to the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce board of directors. "Do we really want one on the board?" several asked. By "one" they meant: a Scientologist. Board members worried that the chamber's rank and file might quit in ...

Re: Detox center seeks acceptance, story, March 30. Narconon, a Scientology drug treatment program, wants taxpayers' dollars by having the local court system order people into the program at a cost of $7,500 per client. The article goes on to state that the "political elite" - such as Clearwater Mayor Brian Aungst, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judges Linda Allan and Linda Babb (how can judges endorse a $7,500-per-client religious program?) and County Commissioner Susan Latvala - are impressed, and Pinellas Public Defender Robert ...

Narconon, a drug treatment program with Scientology backing, now wants taxpayer assistance. CLEARWATER – At Tampa Bay's newest alternative to mainstream drug treatment, the license issued by the state hangs next to commendations from the Church of Scientology. Narconon, a controversial drug treatment program based on techniques developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, has opened its first Florida facility in Clearwater in a commercial park off U.S. 19. Past the meticulously clean lobby are classrooms where recovering addicts take a ...

Scientology's largest facility in the world, still more than a year from completion, has altered the Clearwater skyline. CLEARWATER – From arched 31-foot windows to the 1,140-seat dining room, there is much that will be grand in the Church of Scientology's new downtown religious center. It will have 889 rooms, 447 windows, 42 bathrooms. A two-story lighted cross will perch atop the highest tower, 150 feet up. The building even has a hefty nickname, "Super Power." In recent weeks, the building's ...

Lee Arnold envisions a 17-story condominium and a luxury hotel overlooking Clearwater's waterfront. CLEARWATER — Real estate heavyweight Lee Arnold announced plans Thursday to build an upscale, 17-story condominium and a luxury "boutique" hotel in an $80-million project that could boost downtown redevelopment. The project, which would span 1.7-acres between Osceola and Fort Harrison avenues south of Drew Street, incorporates some ideas voters rejected in a referendum on redevelopment last summer. Arnold, chairman of Colliers Arnold Commercial Real Estate Services, said ...

By all appearances, Clearwater lives up to its name. Located just outside of Tampa Bay, the city boasts palm trees, white beaches, sun, surf, and six cruise tour companies with "dolphin sightings guaranteed." Liberally supplied with spacious hotels within driving distance of the Busch Gardens amusement park and the Salvador Dali museum, Clearwater is a tidy burg with street names like Gulf to Bay Boulevard and Sunset Point Road. Clearwater is also home to the most prestigious international instructional center for ...

CLEARWATER — Two of the top candidates for mayor differed sharply on what traditionally has been a major issue in Clearwater, but it never came up during the recent campaign. Brian Aungst and Rita Garvey never discussed the Church of Scientology, which is expanding its downtown presence as never before and trying to shed its controversial image. Garvey, a longtime Scientology critic, made it a habit through the years never to speak with the church, which moved its "spiritual headquarters" to ...

CLEARWATER — Members of the Church of Scientology recently have been rising to the defense of embattled City Manager Mike Roberto in an outpouring of public support for a Clearwater official that would have been inconceivable in the past. The unusual display, in the form of letters and e-mails to City Hall and the Times, is an indicator of how dramatically City Hall's relationship with the church and its members has changed — from the icy co-existence that began with Scientology's ...