CLEARWATER—City officials are considering building a new City Hall and a main library across from each other at the intersection of Cleveland Street and Myrtle Avenue. The proposal calls for the two buildings to face Cleveland Street, separated by a well-landscaped, decorative traffic circle. A drawing created by a consultant shows City Hall at the southwest corner, in place of an old hotel owned by the Church of Scientology. It puts the library at the northeast corner on the former Chick ...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Late on a November afternoon two years ago, a 36-year-old Scientologist named Lisa McPherson was involved in a minor traffic accident. She was not injured, but she inexplicably stripped off her clothes and began to walk naked down the street. A paramedic rushed her into an ambulance and asked why she had taken off her clothes. Ms. McPherson replied: "I wanted help. I wanted help." She was taken to a nearby hospital for a psychiatric examination, but several ...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — In 1975, L. Ron Hubbard, the flamboyant founder of the Church of Scientology, was intent on finding a home base for his religion, which had come under criticism in several countries. The result was Operation Goldmine. Late that year, a dummy corporation paid $2.3 million in cash to buy the Fort Harrison Hotel, a historic building that was the symbolic heart of downtown Clearwater. The buyer was identified as the United Churches of Florida, an unknown organization. A ...

Lisa McPherson turned to the Church of Scientology in her 20s as she tried to shed the emotional baggage of a rocky youth. By age 36, with a high school education, she was earning a handsome salary as a sales representative in Clearwater. Today, as the church tries to rebut assertions that it caused her sudden death, it also credits Scientology for her successes in life. But McPherson's turnaround came at a financial price. From 1991 until she died in December ...

The Church of Scientology's version of the circumstances surrounding the death of one of its members always raised more questions than it answered. Now Scientology's top officials cannot even keep their own stories straight, further undermining their credibility. That increases the pressure on Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe to uncover the truth about Lisa McPherson's death. Were Scientology officials right when they insisted McPherson was capable of walking when she was loaded into a van at the church's Fort Harrison Hotel ...

CLEARWATER — Was it an honest mistake, a slip of the tongue? Or was it the naked truth, carelessly uttered on camera A top official for the Church of Scientology told a German television crew recently that church member Lisa McPherson died in a room at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater. On its face, the statement marks a major change in Scientology's version of events surrounding McPherson's unexplained death at age 36. It came in the presence of one of ...

The death of 36 year old Lisa McPherson while in the "care" of fellow Scientologists at the Clearwater headquarters has led to an ongoing investigation by Clearwater police and has been the focus of numerous stories in the Tampa Tribune, St. Petersburg Times, New York Times, local media, NBC Nightly News, and episodes on Inside Edition. Lisa's tragic story began when she joined Scientology upon high school graduation. But two weeks before Thanksgiving, 1995, Lisa "told friends that she was ready ...

CLEARWATER - A Church of Scientology staff member who helped care for Lisa McPherson shortly before her death is a medical doctor whose practice in Arizona was restricted after two hospitals raised questions about her use of prescription drugs. The doctor, Janis K. Johnson-Fitzgerald, agreed to an order in October 1993 in which she surrendered her right to write prescriptions; promised not to see patients; agreed to random drug tests; and was to have her progress monitored by another doctor. At ...

CLEARWATER — A barefoot woman ran between two Church of Scientology buildings early Saturday before jumping into Clearwater Harbor, where police took her into protective custody for a psychiatric evaluation. As the incident unfolded over more than three city blocks downtown, a patrol officer tried twice to ask the woman if she needed help, police said. They said she and a Church of Scientology security guard behind her kept running and eventually she was found by police in shallow Clearwater Harbor. ...

The group is unhappy that Clearwater has not resolved a dispute over legal fees in a successful fight against the city. CLEARWATER — Mayor Rita Garvey, City Commissioner Fred Thomas and others are singled out for criticism in the latest edition of Freedom, a tabloid newspaper published periodically by the Church of Scientology. The organization is delivering the 12-page publication this week to about 100,000 residences in Clearwater, Largo, Dunedin and Palm Harbor. The new edition also criticizes the ''St. Petersburg ...

They never broke into church buildings or planted electronic bugs, but for the past 13 years, undercover Clearwater police detectives have investigated the Church of Scientology. They never developed a case against the church that was prosecuted. The work ranged from gathering Scientologists' names to seeking refunds for dissatisfied parishioners. Police once stormed Scientology headquarters after hearing anonymous allegations - unfounded, it turned out - that Scientology children were being strapped to gurneys and given electric shocks. The investigation boils down ...

WASHINGTON — Since coming to Clearwater in 1975, the Church of Scientology has grown into a dominating presence in the city and now owns 11 properties in the area. Clearwater, known as Flag Land Base in Scientology jargon, is considered the international spiritual headquarters of the religion. The church has 750 or so staff members based in Clearwater, and hundreds more come from around the world to take part in Scientology religious services. Even before the IRS granted tax-exempt status to ...

A new six-story training and counseling center is planned for Clearwater. WASHINGTON — Hoping to expand to "every city on earth," the Church of Scientology plans to spend $185-million during the next five years to renovate and acquire properties, plus another $112-million on a campaign to spread its message around the world. The Scientologists' spiritual headquarters in Clearwater would get the biggest chunk of construction money over the next few years, the Church of Scientology said in documents filed with the ...

At issue is an ordinance on solicitations. At stake is residents' security — or religious freedom. CLEARWATER — The city is still fighting the Church of Scientology. Despite a strongly worded recent court decision in favor of Scientology, city commissioners have decided to continue the decade-long legal battle over a rule that would let the city police the organization's financial records. The commissioners reached their decision at a closed-door meeting Tuesday, Alan Zimmet, a lawyer who attended the meeting, said Wednesday. ...

The city's 10-year battle has been expensive and fruitless. Commissioners will meet Tuesday to discuss their next move, if any. CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology, it appears, is winning the war. After years of bitter fighting with various government entities, Scientology has been granted the same status as mainstream churches by the Internal Revenue Service, and an appeals court has said the city has no right to police the organization's records. The touchy question facing city leaders: Hunker down for ...