The Church of Scientology pressed vigorously Friday (June 19, 2009) to delay publication of the Times' Scientology story. Its spokesmen and lawyers said that the few days the newspaper gave the church to respond to Mike Rinder, who only recently agreed to go public, was not enough time. The church also said the Times needs to talk to more people. Church spokesmen, executives, attorneys and others flew in from around the country to meet with reporters in Clearwater. The parade started ...

BROOKSVILLE — The Hernando County Commission on Tuesday turned down the expansion of a drug rehabilitation center in a residential area of Spring Hill off Cessna Drive. Commissioners voted 4 to 1 to deny Suncoast Rehabilitation Center's request to expand from 21 to 54 beds on a 3-acre parcel. Commissioners listened for more than an hour as neighborhood residents voiced concerns for the safety of children and elderly residents. Representatives of the center's program, Narconon of Spring Hill, which has ties ...

BROOKSVILLE — After listening to concerned neighbors for more than an hour Tuesday, the Hernando County Commission squashed plans to expand a drug rehabilitation center in Spring Hill off Cessna Drive. Toucan Partners LLC, a firm with ties to the Church of Scientology, owns the 3-acre site where the facility is located. Suncoast Rehabilitation Center wanted to grow from 21 to 54 beds, but neighbors said they worried about the safety of their children and elderly residents. Michael Burmann said he ...

BROOKSVILLE — Teena Fager used to enjoy her back yard, but that was before the new neighbors moved in behind her. What really put her off was the night earlier this year when she heard yelling coming from the property along her back lot line. "It was some guy," she said. "It was like someone being tortured." Fager prepared to call 911, but then she heard other voices — women and men laughing. It made her uneasy, and she doesn't use ...

BROOKSVILLE — Hernando County commissioners decided on Tuesday to delay discussions on whether to seek federal stimulus dollars for a central water system to help residents who have elevated levels of arsenic in their well water. State officials had asked Hernando to take preliminary steps to seek funding for a water system to serve homes in rural areas southeast of Brooksville. The system could cost $15 million, and state officials have sent mixed messages about how much the county could get ...

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 ...

Luxury lifts up church hotel March 22 story Money could go to better use In this time of recession, when people are losing jobs, houses are going to foreclosure and times basically are tough all over for everyone, it's nice to see the cult of greed spending $40 million on renovations to its lair — not for the good of the community or to help those less fortunate, but to add to its own excess. As a "religion" and a "church," ...

[Picture of interior] [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times] [Caption:] The Crystal Ballroom at the Fort Harrison Hotel houses a 12,000-crystal chandelier. The hotel opened 82 years ago as the New Fort Harrison Hotel, and was a focal point of the community during the Great Depression and World War II. CLEARWATER — Marble floors from Spain. Gold leaf painted on elaborate crown moldings. Richly colored carpets from South Africa. Decorative plaster cornices. A 12,000-crystal chandelier for the ballroom. The Church of Scientology ...

CLEARWATER — Taking on the Church of Scientology in court is like picking a fight with the Russian army. When attacked, the church defends itself aggressively, wearing down opponents with a barrage of litigation while peering into their personal lives. Ken Dandar knows this better than anyone. In the 7-year-long Lisa McPherson case, the Tampa lawyer and the church waged one of the most grueling, fiercely contested legal battles in Tampa Bay history. The wrongful death lawsuit became intensely acrimonious, with ...

CLEARWATER — Police investigated the role Scientology played in the suicide of a troubled young man two years ago, but did not conclude church members forced him off his antidepressant medication or contributed to his death. Last week, the mother of Kyle Brennan filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Scientology's Clearwater-based Flag Service Organization and three Scientologists, claiming they took away Brennan's medication. The suit names the boy's father, Thomas Brennan, as a defendant; along with Denise Gentile, who is the ...

CLEARWATER — A mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, its Flag Service Organization and three parishioners, claiming they brought about her son's death by denying him access to his antidepression medication. Among the three parishioners named as defendants: Denise Gentile, the twin sister of the church's current worldwide leader, David Miscavige, as well as her husband, Gerald Gentile. The lawsuit stems from the death of Kyle T. Brennan, 20, who shot himself in the head ...

Joy Gendusa spins through the converted NAPA Auto Parts warehouse; Lulu, her white Maltese, scampers at her feet in a valiant effort to keep pace. Over the din of ringing phones, she dishes updates about dozens of employees, many of them related. "And that's her stepmother over there," she gestures. "The girl next to her, her mother works here too." PostcardMania, a direct-mail company that prints and ships postcard advertisements on behalf of businesses nationwide, is 10 years old with 160 ...

CLEARWATER — In one of its biggest purchases in years, the Church of Scientology has added 5 acres to its already defining downtown presence. The $10-million cash purchase signals the demise of an ambitious waterfront condominium project proposed by a group of Scientology parishioners who assembled parcels immediately north of downtown four years ago and shared visions of turning downtown Clearwater into another Naples. Despite having no experience in condo development, Triangle Development partners Ben Kugler and Ron Pollack hoped to ...

All acknowledgement to Poynter's Jim Romenesko, whose blog [http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45] alerted me to the Reporter's Notebook Web site [http://www.reportersnotebook.net/article.php3?id_article=57], which contains a compelling collection of memories by alums of the long gone Clearwater Sun newspaper. While I'm not so sure about the contention that a newspaper 25 miles away can't provide comprehensive coverage of a community, it is illuminating and sobering to read about the Sun's glory days. A particular standout is the essay crafted by Mike Pride [http://nenews.org/stories/639.html], a well-regarded, recently-retired ...

The Clearwater City Council took mere seconds Tuesday to deliver a powerful message: that people have the right to peacefully assemble and speak their minds, and the city won't even consider trying to tread on that right. Thirty-four downtown merchants and two residents signed a petition calling for the city government to take action against Anonymous, a loosely organized, Internet-based group that has been conducting worldwide protests against the Church of Scientology for months. Since the first of the year, the ...

CLEARWATER — About three dozen downtown business owners are upset with a group of anti-Scientology protesters and want the City Council to do something about them. But city leaders Tuesday said there's little they can do. "Suspending the First Amendment is something we shouldn't spend a whole lot of time on," Councilman Paul Gibson said. The loosely organized group Anonymous has held several recent demonstrations against the Church of Scientology. Many Cleveland Street businesses say the masked protesters and the constant ...

CLEARWATER — Shawn Lons­dale, who carried on a one-man crusade against Scientology in 2006, was "sick, depressed, broke and tired of it all" when he took his life in February, according to a suicide note released Friday. Police discovered him on Feb. 16, a garden hose stretching from the exhaust pipe of his car into a window of his home at 510 N Lincoln Ave. Online speculation coursed through anti-Scientology circles that he did not kill himself. On Friday, however, police ...

CLEARWATER — Marble floors with patterned inlay. Plush carpeting. Mahogany paneling. Decorated crown moldings. Marble sinks. Hi-def TVs. A 32-station fitness center. An elegant restaurant. Luxury touches abound inside downtown Clearwater's newest waterfront hotel, the gleaming 240-room Oak Cove. But don't rush to pack your bags. Oak Cove is just for Scientologists. Recently opened after a $26-million renovation, the hotel is Scientology's newest lodging option in Clearwater, the church's international spiritual headquarters. Oak Cove also is the first in a series ...

CLEARWATER — While thousands of college kids on spring break enjoyed a gorgeous Saturday on Clearwater Beach, another group of young people descended on the otherwise-deserted downtown wearing surgical masks, fake beards and bandannas. A group of about 150 people, mostly college-age, spent the sun-splashed day protesting the Church of Scientology outside its spiritual headquarters. Timed to coincide with Scientology's celebration of founder L. Ron Hubbard's birthday, it was the second major protest in Clearwater by a loose-knit Internet activist group ...

[Picture / Caption: "A bomb squad robot heads into the alley behind the Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Center at 336 First Ave. N in St. Petersburg on Thursday after the Scientology headquarters in Clearwater received a bomb threat. A large suitcase found in the alley behind the St. Petersburg office did not contain a bomb."] CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology was told again Thursday it could not have a court order restraining Anonymous protesters this weekend, largely because the ...

The church filed a suit for an "injunction for protection" from a group called Anonymous. [Picture / Caption: "Anonymous protesters walk south on Fort Harrison Avenue in front of the Church of Scientology's new Super Power Building on Feb. 10 in downtown Clearwater."] CLEARWATER - After weeks of enduring Internet video taunts from a group called Anonymous, the Church of Scientology posted a YouTube video of its own Wednesday. It includes what Scientology claims are video snippets from Anonymous, threatening phone ...

[Picture / Caption: "A bomb squad robot heads into the alley behind the Dianetics & Scientology Life Improvement Center at 336 First Ave N in St. Petersburg after the Scientology headquarters in Clearwater received a bomb threat. A large suitcase found in the alley behind the office was found to contain clothing and a Bible. [Lara Cerri, Times]"] ST. PETERSBURG – When police opened the suspicious brown suitcase found behind a Scientology office downtown, it contained no bomb - just clothing, ...

CLEARWATER – Circuit Judge Douglas Baird today denied a motion for a temporary injunction sought by the Church of Scientology to prevent protesters from getting within 500 feet of Scientology buildings. A group of protesters calling itself Anonymous plans demonstrations against Scientology Friday and Saturday, coinciding with the church's birthday celebration of its founder, L.Ron Hubbard. This is the second of two similar suits filed by the Church of Scientology this week. The first was rejected by Circuit Judge Linda Allan ...

The church is seeking a restraining order to stop a new round of protests. CLEARWATER - With the Internet activist group Anonymous threatening a second round of protests against Scientology this weekend, the Clearwater-based church went to court late Tuesday, filing a petition for a temporary restraining order. The petition was filed just before the close of court Tuesday afternoon, and the St. Petersburg Times could not obtain a copy of the petition. Pat Harney, a spokeswoman for the Church of ...