1 2 3 ⇑ Latest ↑ Later Earlier ↓ Earliest ⇓ Oct 14, 1993
Exemption, redemption — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Martin Dyckman Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Jaws sagged over many a breakfast table Wednesday at the news that the Internal Revenue Service has finally thrown in the towel and conceded the Church of Scientology to be a religion. Since its secretive arrival in Clearwater 18 years ago, Scientology has not been the best of neighbors. Nor has it managed to live down its wider reputation for exploiting vulnerable followers. In a memorable editorial, the Clearwater Sun — now defunct, for other reasons — once said that for ...
Oct 14, 1993
Papers detail church's finances — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
David Dahl ,
Karl Vick Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The Church of Scientology, freed of its income tax obligations by the IRS this month, is spending $114-million to preserve the voluminous writings of deceased founder L. Ron Hubbard, the group says in newly released documents. The works will be etched into steel plates and printed in book form on natural cotton and linen fabric, according to documents. Some will be stocked in an underground vault in California that is designed, Scientologists hope, to protect the writings during a nuclear war. ...
Oct 14, 1993
Ruling may doom Pinellas tax suit against Scientology — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Wayne Garcia Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The IRS' exemption of the Church of Scientology may doom the county's effort to collect a tax bill exceeding $7.9-million. CLEARWATER — Pinellas County's property tax lawsuit against the Church of Scientology is badly wounded by an Internal Revenue Service ruling that exempts the organization from federal income taxes, Property Appraiser Jim Smith said Wednesday. The two sides are headed back to mediation that likely will result in many, if not all, of the Scientology properties being removed from the property ...
Oct 13, 1993
IRS: Scientology is tax-exempt religion — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Wayne Garcia Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The agreement ends a fight that lasted decades. And the deal may help Scientologists avoid paying millions of tax dollars in Clearwater. The Internal Revenue Service says the Church of Scientology and its myriad entities don't have to pay federal income taxes, ending a 40-year battle with the controversial church over its purpose and methods of dealing with opponents, which included burglary and intimidation. In the past week, the Internal Revenue Service issued 30 "determination letters" that exempted 153 Scientology churches, ...
Oct 13, 1993
Scientology surrounded by secrecy, controversy — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
David Barstow Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) In 1975, the Church of Scientology used a front company to secretly buy the historic Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater for $2.3-million. There has been controversy ever since. Shortly after making the hotel its worldwide spiritual headquarters, Scientologists issued an internal directive outlining a plan to "fully investigate the Clearwater city and county area so we can distinguish our friends from our enemies and handle as needed." It called for protecting "ourselves against any potential threat by taking control of ...
Aug 28, 1993
Scientology's words to hit the airwaves — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Now [Nancy] Cartwright is appearing on television in another role: a 30-minute television program that the Church of Scientology hopes will expose more people to [L. Ron] Hubbard's message and increase the number of people seeking Scientology counseling. Now, next to those telephone-order woks and real-estate courses comes Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health , the 1950 self-help classic from Hubbard, whose writings and research are the gospel of Scientology. The group has its spiritual headquarters in Clearwater. Scientology is never ...
Aug 12, 1993
Scientologists buy historic building — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Wayne Garcia Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The Church of Scientology now owns one of this city's most historic storefront buildings but might not for long if it completes a land-swap deal. The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology Religious Trust bought the J. D. Baskin Building, 115 S Garden Ave., in June for $500,000 from Imre and Anne Tozser of Clearwater, courthouse records show. The [Jefferson Davis] Baskin building, Scientology's 14th purchase in Clearwater, is being traded for a parcel controlled by the Indiana-based Mitchell Foundation, said Richard ...
May 18, 1993
Scientologists plan expansion — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Wayne Garcia Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The organization adds one property and plans a 2,500-seat auditorium for another in Clearwater. CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology added a 13th property to its list of Clearwater holdings Monday and unveiled plans to build a 2,500-seat auditorium that will be available to be rented for public events most of the year. Scientology officials said the auditorium, being designed as part of a $40-million building planned for the former Gray Moss Inn site, will play an important role in downtown ...
Apr 5, 1993
Counseling center redesigned / Groundbreaking for the Scientologists' domed, $40-million center in Clearwater is expected by the end of the year — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Wayne Garcia Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Church of Scientology officials are retooling designs for their $40-million counseling and training center on the site of the old Gray Moss Inn, across the street from the Fort Harrison Hotel religious retreat. A model of the six-story Technical Delivery Building features a broad domed roof and concentric white concrete circles around one side that recall the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Scientologists expect to break ground on the new building at 215 S Fort Harrison Ave. ...
Nov 10, 1992
Group seeks money to expand — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger ,
Wayne Garcia Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The Church of Scientology is asking its members for $40-million in donations so it can pay for the new building it plans to put up in downtown Clearwater. The church has received at least $7.4-million, including three donations of more than $1-million each, according to a flier mailed recently by the church. But the flier asks members to contribute more, because the building would help expand Scientology worldwide. The Church of Scientology has its international spiritual headquarters in Clearwater. Some denounce ...
Jul 13, 1992
Letters // Time to work together — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Jun 29, 1992
Suit against Cazares rejected — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) A judge has dismissed a lawsuit by two Scientologists who claimed former Pinellas Democratic Chairman Gabe Cazares violated Florida's hate crimes law by ejecting them from a meeting. Cazares said the outcome showed that "their tactic of trying to silence their critics and enemies by threats of suits under the hate crimes law is a tactic that will not work." However, Paul Johnson, the attorney who represented the two Scientologists, intends to file an amended version of the lawsuit next week, ...
Jun 10, 1992
The do drop inn — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Heavy machinery is used Tuesday to demolish the Gray Moss Inn in downtown Clearwater. The Church of Scientology Religious Trust will use the land to build a counseling and training center.
Apr 29, 1992
Scientologists sue 'Time' for libel — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Apr 20, 1992
Scientologists cited for crowded apartments — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The church says it will move some residents of Hacienda Gardens to satisfy the Clearwater building code. CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology has been cited by city building officials for overcrowding in apartments. In recent inspections, city officials determined that 34 apartments were overcrowded at Hacienda Gardens, a complex at 551 N Saturn Ave. used mostly for church staff. James Bond, the church's director of renovations, said some of the residents would be moved to different apartments, so that no ...
Feb 8, 1992
Words are weapons in 'cult' battle — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Jan 4, 1992
Former Scientology member sues church — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Nov 12, 1991
Scientologywood // Putting the CULT back in Culture — Village Voice
Type: Press
Author(s):
Russ W. Baker Source:
Village Voice And now, the next Walt Disney Studios— the Church of Scientology! That is, if entrepreneurs connected with the Hollywood based cult can muscle into the film business with their proposal to homogenize films by tailoring them to the tastes of the unwashed masses. It all began last July, when Future Films, a new, eccentric studio, began running ads in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter touting its revolutionary ideas. No one knew what to make of it all. The grand concept, to ...
Nov 11, 1991
Scientology's children: "They took our lives" — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: whyaretheydead.info , scientology-lies.com , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Eleven-year-old Laura Hutchinson went to Girl Scout camp scared. Not scared of camp. Camp would be fine. Laura was scared that when she returned, Mom and Dad might be divorced. Tom and Carol Hutchinson, self-employed commercial artists in the Atlanta area, had been having marital problems. When Tom started getting counseling at Atlanta's Dianetics center, affiliated with the Church of Scientology, Carol objected. The parents fought as Laura left. But when Laura came back, her parents were together. By then, both ...
Nov 11, 1991
Scientology's children: Children, adults write to the Times — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: whyaretheydead.info , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The True School and the Jefferson Academy, two Clearwater schools that use educational methods devised by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, declined to allow the St. Petersburg Times to interview students, graduates, teachers, administrators or parents. But the True School did provide what it said were testimonials from some of the school's students and staff members. In addition, Church of Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth arranged for Scientologists to write letters and send them to the Times . Here are excerpts from the ...
Nov 11, 1991
Scientology's children: Church official responds to the Hutchinsons' story — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: whyaretheydead.info , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Asked to comment on the Hutchinsons' story, Richard Haworth, spokesman for the Scientology headquarters in Clearwater, said he had not seen their lawsuit. When a reporter offered to give him a copy, he declined to accept it. In general, he said, "Scientology helps parents and children to improve their relationships with each other." He denied that Scientologists are taught not to have sympathy for their children. "A child that is sick or hurt will get compassion, love and understanding to help ...
Nov 11, 1991
Scientology's children: On education — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: whyaretheydead.info , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Like the church he founded, the teaching methods espoused by L. Ron Hubbard create controversy. And they are spreading, across the United States and around the world. L. Ron Hubbard wrote science fiction stories and founded a religion — but he didn't stop there. He went on, according to his followers, to achieve tremendous breakthroughs in education. There are now more than 150 Hubbard-method schools around the world. They achieve superior results, according to supporters, and are free of drugs and ...
Nov 10, 1991
Scientology's children: 'I still have nightmares' — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) [Picture / Caption: Kristi, left, and Beth Erlich grew up in the Church of Scientology, but eventually left. In the top photo, taken by their mother when Kristi and Beth were children, the two girls perform TR-Zero, Scientology drill that calls for two people to stare at each other "without any compulsions todo anything." The routine is designed to improve communication skills.] When Beth Erlich was 11, she signed her first contract. A billion-year contract. Beth didn't understand it too well. ...
Nov 10, 1991
Scientology's children: Church responds to Erlichs' claims — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The Church of Scientology says that Dennis Erlich cannot be considered a reliable source of information about the church. Erlich, wrote church of Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth, is nothing more than a disgruntled former member who blames the church "for his troubled life." "Ten years ago he was asked to leave the church following complaints from his wife that he was physically abusing her. . . . Erlich was also violent and abusive to other staff." Haworth labeled Erlich a "hate ...
Nov 10, 1991
Scientology's children: Introduction — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Roy seemed adrift. He was 14 and headed for trouble. But when he entered a Scientology school, the transformation was swift. Within two years, he was working alongside the Church of Scientology's most senior executives. The church reels off dozens of success stories like Roy's. But it doesn't mention a Clearwater boy named Carlo. Carlo, 15, didn't go to school. He worked from 8:30 in the morning until 10 at night for $30 a week. He told police that he couldn't ...
Nov 10, 1991
Scientology's children: Members laud schooling, church's no-drug stance — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) [Picture / Caption: Happy Scientologists: Marie C. Gale poses with her husband, David, son Philip and daughter Elizabeth.] Marie C. Gale is raising her children the same way her parents raised her: using the principles of Scientology. "Considering my parents and grandmother, my children are fourth- generation Scientologists," Mrs. Gale, 36, said in a letter. Mrs. Gale, of Clearwater, is one of many local Scientologists who say their religion offers benefits to their families, their children in particular. Members say Scientology ...
Nov 10, 1991
Scientology's children: Saving the world — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Scientologists believe they are saving the world from insanity, war and crime. "Saving the world is an understatement," said former member Kenneth Wasserman. "Saving the universe" is more like it, he said. This intense sense of purpose explains why some Scientologists are willing to work 12-hour days for $30 a week. Others pay up to $800 for an hour of counseling, and one couple brought a $35,000 counseling package. Critics say this sense of mission has another consequence: Next to saving ...
Nov 10, 1991
Scientology's children: What are church's beliefs? — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) L. Ron Hubbard was a writer who conjured up tales of time travel and rocket ships to Mars. But science fiction was not all that sprang from Hubbard's pen. He also wrote the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health . In it, Hubbard described a new kind of counseling, which he said could help people increase their IQs, cure themselves of arthritis, allergies, asthma and migraine headaches, and reduce their chances of having a car wreck. The book was published ...
Aug 27, 1991
Scientology plan called tax avoidance — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com
Aug 14, 1991
Court denies newspapers access to hearings — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Curtis Krueger Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) After secret court hearings involving a former Scientologist began in Tampa, the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune filed motions in court to gain access. Times attorney Patricia Anderson said a larger question remains: Whether the U.S. District Court in Tampa should unseal a case file from a lawsuit that the plaintiff did not want closed. That issue has not been decided. Margery Wakefield is a former member of the Church of Scientology who sued in 1982, saying the organization fraudulently ...
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