Rebuild it and they will come. Volunteers from around the globe have been hard at work in the Church of Scientology's new three-story, two-mezzanine home at 836 Main St., on the southwest corner of Main and Virginia streets. Members have come from as far as Hungary, Lithuania, South Africa and Italy to work on the 23,232-square-foot building's restoration, scheduled for completion in mid-September. Closer to home, Scientologists from Chicago, Miami, New York City and Hollywood, where the church is headquartered, have ...

Jurors don't buy the church's argument that a lawyer involved in a wrongful death case owes it more than $2-million. CLEARWATER — A tiny smile creased Ken Dandar's face as a clerk read the first count of the jury verdict. Compensatory damages he owed the Church of Scientology: $4,500. Dandar knew then he had won. The grin widened and Dandar began to playfully pat his attorney, Luke Lirot, as the clerk read through the rest of the counts. The amount he ...

A lawyer involved in a wrongful death suit should pay more than $2-million, the church contends. CLEARWATER — Large and imposing, Church of Scientology attorney Samuel Rosen stood before a Pinellas County jury Tuesday, arms waving, voice booming. Pointing at Tampa lawyer Ken Dandar, he growled to jurors that Dandar had taken a "garden variety" wrongful death lawsuit and allowed a church critic to turn it into "a frontal attack on an entire religion." Now, Rosen said, Dandar must be punished. ...

A funeral service for Frank Hoeffer III, 57, of San Francisco will be private. Disposition will also be private. Mr. Hoeffer died July 23, 2003, in San Francisco following a bout with cancer. Born July 15, 1946, in San Diego, he resided in Vacaville from 1954 to 1969 before moving to San Francisco. He was self-employed. He was a member of the Church of Scientology and enjoyed computers. A graduate of Vacaville Union High School in 1964, he earned an associate ...

Clearwater Village's developers envision 126 Mediterranean-style homes with a median cost of $450,000 to $500,000. CLEARWATER — Unicorns. Free lunches. Large tracts of undeveloped Clearwater land. None of those things exist, right? In fact, 24 vacant acres do exist in Clearwater, land that has been largely untouched since mules grazed there some 80 years ago. Developers snatched it up, of course. And then they thought about what to do with their blank canvas. Surrounded as it is by a church, low-income ...

The Church of Scientology on July 18 paid more than $94,000 in delinquent property taxes on four of its Hollywood properties, including tens of thousands to the local business improvement district. The Independent reported the day before that the church - one of the largest property owners in Hollywood - had failed to pay $94,625 for the fiscal year that ended June 30 on its properties, including $41,227 to the Hollywood Entertainment District. A Church of Scientology spokesperson said the nonprofit ...

NEW YORK CITY — The Church of Scientology New York will renovate and expand its current home at 227 West 46th St. Brennan Beer Gorman/ Architects (BBG) has been selected as the architect to develop the church's concept, which includes a total renovation and expansion to the six-story building. Upon completion, the building will total approximately 46,650 sf. Currently in construction, the project is expected to be complete by spring 2004. The projected cost of the project was not revealed. The ...

WILLEMSTAD–Movie star Tom Cruise visited Curaçao. He rented the Dolphin Academy at the Curaçao Seaquarium and swam around with the dolphins for an hour. He also visited Baya Beach Club and the Freewinds cruise ship. The ship belongs to the Scientology Church, of which Cruise is a member. He came to the island on his own yacht, which he moored at Caracasbaai and Spanish Water. No one was allowed to take photos at the sites visited by the celebrity and his ...

The church is buying property, increasing staff and raising its profile with TV ads and special offers. TAMPA — A group of high-ranking Scientologists, concerned the church's Tampa facilities aren't up to snuff, is investing more than $2.5-million to buy a second cigar factory in West Tampa and to lease and renovate a two-story building on one of the hottest corners in Ybor City. The church's three properties, staffed by nearly 100 people, will be the base for Scientology's most aggressive ...

It may be Pat Robertson's worst nightmare. Will the Church of Scientology be a recipient of President Bush's "Religion Tax" largesse to operate drug-alcohol rehab clinics and other social programs based on the group's strange teachings? The Washington Post is reporting that Scientology "cause celeb" Tom Cruise has been meeting this past week with key senior Bush administration officials at the Department of Education and even the White House. On Thursday, Secretary of Education Rod Paige reportedly hosted a lunch for ...

VOLUNTEERS have been giving a brush-up to the Park Road Bridge site in East Grinstead over the past couple of weekends. The team spent two consecutive Sundays clearing the site in liaison with the Town Council. The area has been a concern to residents as rats, feeding on discarded food, had been increasing in numbers. About 120 bags of rubbish were removed with 11 shopping trolleys and a host of other debris, such as traffic cones, signs and old batteries. The ...

[...] Leave no movie star behind: Church of Scientology cause celeb Tom Cruise slipped into town this week for private meetings with senior Bush administration officials at the Department of Education and the White House. On Thursday, Education Secretary Rod Paige hosted a lunch for Cruise – a conspicuous supporter of Bill Clinton before President Bush took office – so the actor could gab with education officials in the secretary's dining room. "He wanted to learn more about the president's 'no ...

Scientologists will let the trial "determine the ability to empanel an unbiased jury." CLEARWATER — Church of Scientology officials thought hard before making public a survey they commissioned that found widespread negative opinions about Scientology. The church then used the survey to argue that negative media reports had prejudiced Tampa Bay area residents so badly that the church could not get a fair trial in an upcoming civil case. The trial should be moved, they said. Church officials knew the survey ...

Scientology officials have gotten smarter about public relations, but they shouldn't be surprised that most local residents still remember their past tactics. Many Pinellas County residents know the story of how the Church of Scientology slipped into Pinellas under a different name in 1975 and began buying property in downtown Clearwater, where it established its international religious retreat known as Flag. They remember the clashes that followed between Clearwater city officials and Scientology, the church's penchant for secrecy and the disinformation ...

TAMPA — How many roving Scientologists are too many? The church, which has been criticized for aggressive canvassing in Ybor City, met with its neighbors this week and discussed that very question. After the meeting, Ybor civic leader Vince Pardo was pleased. The Scientologists, he said, had agreed to dispatch no more than two people at a time to recruit new members from the streets of Ybor. But church spokeswoman Ana Tirabassi didn't remember it that way. She said the church ...

The church will use the renovated building to sell books, administer IQ tests and offer courses. But some merchants are grumbling about canvassing tactics. The Church of Scientology will raise its Ybor City profile with the grand opening Saturday of a building it renovated next to Centro Ybor. Scientology of Tampa spokeswoman Ana Tirabassi said the church wants to be a good neighbor. But some merchants and community leaders have raised concerns about canvassing tactics. The church spent $200,000 renovating the ...

Controversial organization uses any means to get "apostate" Karlsruhe. Gerry Armstrong has not lost hope. His will to survive has not given out on him either – amazing, with several lawsuits, imminent threats from the antagonistic lawyers at his throat, Gerry is impressed, but he has a clear message, "From Germany I will and must convince the authorities in my Canadian homeland and also in the USA, that Scientology is neither a religion nor even a church, and certainly not a ...

The church says a survey shows that Pinellas jurors have been heavily influenced by media reports. Respondents used words such as "cult" and "evil" frequently. CLEARWATER — Earlier this spring, as the Church of Scientology prepared for its biggest trial in recent history, professional researchers combed Tyrone Square Mall asking Pinellas residents what they thought of the church. "A cult," said person after person. "Scam," said one. "Crooks," said another. The researchers, hired by the church, questioned 300 people. Their findings ...

Oklahoma City — Normally, resolutions honoring this or that group, person or event fly through the Legislature with nary a ripple of controversy. However, those measures do not usually involve substance-abuse treatment facilities operated by the Church of Scientology. Scientology teaches that human beings are immortal spiritual beings with unlimited capabilities, and their salvation depends on themselves and their attainment of brotherhood with the universe. Founded by author L. Ron Hubbard, it teaches adherents to follow a series of principles to ...

A critic of the Church of Scientology, Andreas Heldal-Lund, has received a human rights award for maintaining his Web page despite repeated legal attacks from church officials. Heldal-Lund, a Norwegian citizen who operates the Operation Clambake Web site, is the fourth recipient of the Leipzig Human Rights Award. Church of Scientology officials have tried to silence Heldal-Lund by, among other things, asking Google and the Internet archive site Archive.org to pull links to his site, claiming that material on its pages ...

Recent articles disturb an active Scientologist There are two points I would like to state about your recent articles on Scientology missions and the Scientologist landlord. I have been active in Scientology since 1969. I have lived in Clearwater since 1989. I have worked in the church from 1971 to 1981, as well as having worked with (Scientology founder) L. Ron Hubbard on a few occasions. I feel I have enough background to understand people's responses to these articles. 1) Scientologists ...

The church of scientology is heading for Harlem. It is building its third Manhattan church in a handsome brick loft building that it just bought at 220 E. 125th St. for $3.45 million. Its two other churches are located on West 46th Street and East 82nd Street. "Our choice of Harlem as a place to expand grows out of the desire of our African-American members to have a service base in the neighborhood," says the Rev. John Carmichael, president of the ...

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 ...

Hollywood film star Tom Cruise has donated $1500 to an Auckland youth drug programme sponsored by the Church of Scientology. Cruise sent the cheque and a letter after hearing about the work of the Drug-Free Ambassadors group, which encourages young people to adopt a drug-free lifestyle. Mo McLeary, manager for the group, which has been running for three years, said it was thrilled with the donation. Mr McLeary had written to the actor hoping it might receive a photo for publicity ...

Buffalo's Church of Scientology, soon to be forced from its downtown church for a new city parking ramp, turned to Erie County prison inmates to help get its new Main Street home ready. A crew of six inmates from the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden, dressed in orange prison jumpsuits and guarded by corrections officers, spent the last month helping with interior renovations in the new Scientology Church at Main and Virginia streets. The inmate crew arrived before 8 a.m. ...

Parents seeking the removal of Superintendent Joseph Olchefske warned the Seattle School Board last night that they might mount a campaign to defeat two levies next February if he remains. That threat came from members of the Citizens for Effective Administration of Seattle Education (CEASE) during a week in which the teachers union and the principals association are taking no-confidence votes on Olchefske. CEASE member Maggie Metcalf-Hess said the group also might seek to replace School Board members who have supported ...

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 ...