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 ...

ALBION — Employees at a drug and alcohol treatment center are claiming they haven't been paid. Connie Hobbs and Debra Mikowski have filed complaints with the Wage and Hour Division of the state Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth this month against Narconon Freedom Center in Albion. Christina Assante, Narconon Freedom Center senior director of administration, is claiming Hobbs resigned without notice and was paid in full. She also claims Mikowski resigned and was paid on Tuesday or Wednesday. Assante ...

A man was arrested today accused of having sex with a teenager at the Church of Scientology in Downtown Cincinnati. Twenty-one-year-old Ben Kasle is charged with two counts of gross sexual imposition. Investigators say he had sex with the girl who is now 14-years-old. Police records indicate the alleged offenses happened at the church on Fourth Street between October 2007 and September 2008. An attorney representing the church says the church is aware of the investigation and is cooperating with police, ...

DONALD, MICHAEL J. Michael Joseph Macdonald, of Englewood, passed on from this life on April 21, 2009. Mike dedicated his life to helping others as a Minister and Executive of the Church of Scientology of Colorado. He was born on June 29, 1953 in Saint Louis, Missouri to Alexander Joseph Macdonald and Susanne Elizabeth Macdonald. He attended Saint Louis Priory School before heading out to Colorado to attend college and play in a rock and roll band. Mike became a Scientologist ...

What do declining educational standards, Nazism, the Columbine shootings, 9/11 and the death of Kurt Cobain have in common? If you passed through the hall of Concordia’s McConnell library building last week, you might think they’re all caused by the pernicious influence of psychiatry. Organized by the innocuous-sounding Citizens’ Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), “Psychology: Industry of Death” is a travelling exhibit that spent four days in the open hall of the university library, arousing curiosity, controversy and at least one ...

Re: "Scientologists have a right to speak, too" (Editorial, April 19). Your editorial's plaintive title betrays a fundamental misapprehension of the issues involved. No one denies the right of Scientologists to say whatever they want, however wrong and untrue it might be. What some people are concerned about, however, is the fact that they are being given a publicly-funded, intellectual soapbox - the Atrium of Concordia University's library building - from which to make their crackpot claims. That is the issue. ...

Whatever happened to "Just Say No to Drugs"? In every newspaper of significance, across the Internet and on the airwaves, arguments rage back and forth about the legalization of illicit drugs. Just months ago, the only drug under legalization scrutiny was marijuana. Now, legalization advocates have extended the argument to include cocaine and heroin, drugs that are much more often the target of rehabilitation stays. Arguments in favor of legalization offer such humanitarian benefits as "less drug-related violence," "less illness," "use ...

VG Netts journalister tok scientologi-test * - Deprimert, tilbaketrukket, uansvarlig * - På nivå med en gjenstand som ikke lever * - Undertrykkes av en eller flere personer * - Må velge mellom kurs eller kjemikalier * - Kan forbedre livet med 1000 prosent (VG Nett) Dette var blant tilbakemeldingene VG Netts tre journalister fikk da de tok den omstridte personlighetstesten til Scientologikirken. Det er denne testen Olav Gunnar Ballo (SV) mener var en utløsende årsak til at datteren Kaja tok ...

Buenos Aires, 21 de abril.- El actor estadounidense John Travolta planea comprar algunas tierras en Argentina, país donde se encuentra desde hace dos días, aunque su agenda se mantiene en completo hermetismo. El protagonista de filmes como "Fiebre de sábado por la noche", "Grease" y "Pulp fiction" llegó el pasado lunes en un jet privado a Ezeiza, sin la compañía de su esposa, Kelly Preston, ni de su hija, Ella, según diversos reportes de prensa. Indicaron que Travolta se comunica por ...

Contrary to saying last week that the New Village Leadership Academy in Los Angeles is a Church of Scientology school in fact we are assured that the academy, founded by the actor Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, is secular, with no religious affiliation and welcomes children from all backgrounds. Apologies for our misunderstanding.

AN EXHIBITION in Sheffield by followers of the controversial Scientology religion prompted complaints from some members of the public. Scientologists – whose celebrity members include Tom Cruise and John Travolta – set up a bright yellow tent in Barker's Pool to educate people about the religion. But critics have dubbed the religion a "cult" and Star reader Mark Nuttall said he thought it was "appalling" Sheffield Council had given the Scientologists permission to set up the tent. He said: "I would ...

It's a name apparently designed to win friends and influence people. After all, what part of "the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights" can you be against? In truth, however, this noble-sounding group has a specific agenda that is much more controversial than citizenry, human rights, or any solemn commission. All the same, Concordia University has done exactly the right thing in allowing this group to express itself on campus. The CCHR is affiliated with the Church of Scientology, an organization with ...

A large and graphic exhibition sponsored by the Church of Scientology is on display at the university. Cindy Sherwin has the story.

Flak is flying at Concordia University this week over the school's decision to allow an exhibition sponsored by the Church of Scientology. University officials have been bombarded with email. Protesters have put together a YouTube video of the show and yesterday staged a demo outside the McConnell library building - where the exhibition is being held till Sunday - to register their objections. The exhibition was sponsored by the Citizens' Commission on Human Rights, which is affiliated with the Church of ...

Scientology Edited by James R. Lewis (Oxford University Press, £18.99) THE clock starts striking 13 very early in this book, which claims to consider Scientology from a standpoint of scholarly objectivity. In the opening essay, "Birth of a Religion", J. Gordon Melton sets out "an overview of the life of L. Ron Hubbard anchored by the generally agreed facts". The general tone can be deduced from his conclusion: "After a suitable pause to acknowledge the founder's life and accomplishments, the church ...

On April 9, the Montreal branch of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights—an organization opposed to psychiatry and psychiatric drugs—set up a large exhibit occupying the whole atrium of Concordia University’s downtown library building. Students had no way of knowing that the CCHR is a sister organization of the Church of Scientology, unless they read the fine print of pamphlets being handed out. By 6 p.m. a small group of students stood outside of the exhibit’s entrance with a sign reading, ...

BROOKSVILLE — Over the fears of a parade of residents concerned about the safety of their homes, families and property values, the Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday approved the expansion of residential drug and alcohol treatment program in Spring Hill. Suncoast Rehabilitation Center on Cessna Drive sought a special exception to build two dormitories, an administration building and swimming and sports facilities. The expansion would more than double the program from 54 beds from 22 on a 3-acre parcel. A ...

SPRING HILL — Jeanine Bender stood at the corner of her Cessna Drive property one day last week shaking her head as yet another vehicle came up the driveway next door. On the adjacent property, heavy equipment was parked, and workers were putting up a large wood-panel fence. Trees that once separated Bender and her husband, Frank Weiss, from the buildings in the distance were gone. Now she has a clear view of the residential treatment center in her neighborhood and ...

Tom and Katie Cruise’s doll-like daughter Suri is to be trained in Scientology after her third birthday this week. The Cruises are sending their daughter five days a week to the Church of Scientology’s £6,000-a-year New Village Academy in Los Angeles, launched last year by Tom’s friend, fellow actor Will Smith. It is staffed by trained Scientologists and lists ‘study technology’ as a key curricular focus. ‘The children have a lot of responsibilities from a very young age,’ says a source. ...

For years, the Western world has listened aghast to stories out of Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations of citizens being imprisoned or executed for questioning or offending Islam. Even the most seemingly minor infractions elicit draconian punishments. Late last year, two Afghan journalists were sentenced to prison for blasphemy because they translated the Koran into a Farsi dialect that Afghans can read. In Jordan, a poet was arrested for incorporating Koranic verses into his work. And last week, ...

The Scientology organization has increasingly targeted poor countries such as Haiti in its recruitment efforts. Why would this money-hungry crime-cult be interested in one of the world’s poorest countries? The answer: Because they want to bring Haitians in to the USA on "religious worker" visas to serve as unpaid laborers. Quoting at length from Scientology-affiliated newspaper the Tampa Bay Informer: Haiti, with its 75% unemployment rate, $15-$20.00 average income per week, 70% illiteracy, 10,000+ homeless in the capital and thousands ...

Out of Jo'burg's more dubious architectural landmarks – Montecasino and Ponte come to mind – none is as peculiar as the Kyalami Castle. Built in the 1990s by Greek tycoon Demos Dinopoulos and perched on a hill amid the area's horsey smallholdings, the faux medieval castle's previous incarnations have included a family mansion and a wedding and conference venue. But now it might have found its true calling. Since March 2008 the castle has belonged to the Church of Scientology. It's ...

Intense scrutiny has focused on John Travolta's family after the death of the actor's chronically ill 16-year-old son Jett, who died at the family's vacation home at a Grand Bahama resort on Friday. Yesterday, an undertaker said the death certificate concluded that the cause of death was a seizure, and that the teen's body showed no sign of head trauma despite earlier police reports that he hit his head on a bathtub. Mr. Travolta, 54, and wife Kelly Preston, 46, were ...

Published Tuesday, April 7, 2009 Issue 99 / Volume 89 “JMike” is not your average Santa Barbara mayoral candidate. Justin “JMike!” Michael is a 29-year-old musician with no prior political experience and a criminal record. He’s not affiliated with any political party and is the son of infamous Scientology minister and Ponzi schemer Reed Slatkin. He was recently a guest on Oprah. And this November, he wants your vote. Michael is not running a traditional campaign, but he says he takes ...