COOPER: It's no secret that Tom Cruise is a devoted, outspoken member of the Church of Scientology. That has not always been the case. There was a time when the subject of his religion was off limits to reporters and to interviewers. Not so now. Just ask Matt Lauer who got lectured by Cruise weeks ago on what the actors says are the evils of psychiatry. Now, while some are surprised by the chance in Cruise, former Scientologists insist it's really ...

Some of the things Chuck Beatty says he's done over the past 30 years sound like scenes from a science fiction movie. Signing over a billion years of his current and future lives to service. Hiding from German news helicopters flying over the California camp where he lived. Spending more than six years doing hard labor under constant monitoring by his peers. But Beatty, 53, now of Carnegie, says he was just one of the many faithful members of the Sea ...

By his account, Tom Cruise owes his cool head, defeat of dyslexia and, in a way, his unstoppable stardom to Scientology. But Scientology has much to thank Tom Cruise for as well. His glowing adherence to Scientology and the initiation of his bride-to-be, actress Katie Holmes, into the off-beat and oft-maligned system of beliefs has stirred a surge of interest. The search engine company Lycos reported that “Scientology” had leaped into the top 50 search terms last week for the first ...

Tom Cruise has become a top proselytizer for Scientology. Is it because of a new private conviction, or a new public role for the church itself? In the course of just a few months, Tom Cruise has made an astounding public leap: He has transformed himself from one of the world's biggest movie stars into one of the oddest. It's not just his sudden romance with and engagement to actress Katie Holmes, which has not yet managed to shake the air ...

Did Reader’s Digest sell its soul to the Church of Scientology to get Tom Cruise on the cover of its current issue? According to several sources inside the world’s largest-selling monthly, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jackie Leo, wanted Cruise as her cover boy but was impeded by the magazine’s history with the controversial group. Back in 1991, Reader’s Digest excerpted an in-depth investigative piece from Time magazine entitled Scientology: The Cult of Greed. Among other things, the article asserted that the Church ...

The largest private development project planned for downtown could reshape the northwest corner with two condo towers and upscale shops. CLEARWATER — What started as a modest plan for 39 condominiums just north of the Church of Scientology's Sandcastle retreat has gradually blossomed into an ambitious residential and retail development plan that could dramatically reshape the long neglected northwest corner of downtown Clearwater. Triangle Development is now proposing two 15-story condominium towers on the bluffs overlooking Clearwater Harbor. Between them will ...

Just months into his tenure as chairman of Paramount, Brad Grey is facing the sort of decision that makes Hollywood executives quiver: whether to proceed with production of the hugely expensive "Mission: Impossible III," even as its star, Tom Cruise, is puzzling associates and members of the public with his behavior while promoting another Paramount venture, "War of the Worlds." An executive for Viacom, Paramount's parent company, said the studio had not yet decided whether to push ahead with production of ...

Tom Cruise’s over-the-top exclamations of love for rumored fiancé Katie Holmes have his agents at CAA scrambling to congratulate him with the best gift they can think of: a gag order. Ever since the actor’s disastrous appearance with his girlfriend of one month on Oprah, sources say his top wranglers at the agency, Rick Nicita and Kevin Huvane, have been frantically pleading with Cruise’s sister/manager Lee Anne DeVette to “rein Tom in.” “Kevin watched the show and was embarrassed for Tom,” ...

Long famous for keeping his private life private, Tom Cruise recently has taken a very public stance as far as his religious beliefs are concerned, involving those who wish to familiarize themselves with his place of worship, the Church of Scientology, reports The New York Times. About 20 managers from United International Pictures, which will distribute director Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds starring Cruise, were invited by the star in January to take a four-hour tour of three separate Scientology ...

After a lifetime playing wholesome, all-American heroes, Tom Cruise has finally discovered his dark side. He's also ditched his publicist, moved in with his sisters and is looking for the third Mrs Cruise. So is Hollywood's leading man having a middle-youth crisis? Interview by Neil Strauss [Picture: "What sinister ambitions lie concealed behind that smile? ... Tom Cruise. Photograph: Domenico Stinellis / AP"] Want to meet my mom?' Tom Cruise asks as we walk through the halls of the Celebrity Center, ...

Tom Cruise inaugurated a Scientology-based detoxification program on Long Island, N.Y., on Wednesday aimed at treating rescue workers exposed to caustic materials after 9/11, according to published reports. "It's been almost three years since the attacks, and thousands are still suffering," Cruise, who co-founded the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, is quoted as saying by Britain's BBC and France's Agence France-Presse. "That's unacceptable to me, to these heroes, and to their families." The center is the second to be sponsored ...

To the disappointment of some outsiders, those mired in the Scientology case were ready for the draining episode to end. CLEARWATER — The recent settlement of the 7-year-old Lisa McPherson wrongful death lawsuit against the Church of Scientology was a shocker for many, seemingly coming out of nowhere. It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision at all, but rather a resolution that had been simmering more than six months in quiet negotiations at the St. Petersburg law offices of mediator Michael Keane. It ...

Marmora — Before a town hall packed with close to 125 people, council here unanimously denied a rezoning application that would allow a former motel to house a drug treatment centre. The move followed a special rezoning hearing Monday night, called to allow those opposed and in favour of allowing Narconon to legally continue in the former Treelawny Hotel. Narconon is a drug rehabilitation program with close ties to the Church of Scientology and utilizes the methods of Scientology founder L. ...

PUBLIC MEETING BY-LAW 2002-23 REZONING The By-law proposes THAT, BY-LAW 18/81 be and the same is hereby amended by By-law 2002-23 which will amend the zone category of approximately 2.26 acres in Lot 6 Concession 3, 21R3738 P1, Roll 141-010-17400, 102513 Highway 7 from C1, Highway Commercial, to C1-S, Highway Commercial Site Specific to allow a Motel which includes a drug free, drug rehabilitation, detoxification, education, training centre, (the program is residential whereby students are provided boarding/lodging under supervision from the ...

[...] Mr. Brad Melnychuk (Executive Director, Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE Canada)): Thank you. I want to start out by saying a little bit more about who I am. I am the executive director of ABLE Canada, the Association for Better Living and Education. This is an organization that's responsible for various charities and non-profits. One of them is Narconon. I'm also chairman of the board of Narconon Incorporated. By the way, don't confuse Narconon with Narcotics Anonymous; it ...

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, STATE OF FLORIDA GENERAL CIVIL DIVISION Case No. 00-5682-C1 Section 11 ESTATE OF LISA McPHERSON, by and through the Personal Representative, DELL LIEBREICH Plaintiff, vs. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC.; JANIS JOHNSON; ALAIN KARTUZINSKI; and DAVID HOUGHTON, Defendants. —– APRIL 2002 AFFIDAVIT OF JESSE PRINCE STATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF HILLSBOROUGH BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, personally appeared JESSE PRINCE, who after being duly sworn ...

CLEARWATER – No angry swarms picketed the Church of Scientology last week. No candlelight vigils. No TV cameras. No extra police patrols. For the first time in six years, the anniversary of the death of Scientologist Lisa McPherson passed quietly. The McPherson maelstrom, which brought nightmarish publicity for the church, has ebbed dramatically, now that the high-profile criminal charges against the church were dropped and a raucous group of church critics recently left Clearwater. But one critical battle remains, one so ...

Lee Arnold envisions a 17-story condominium and a luxury hotel overlooking Clearwater's waterfront. CLEARWATER — Real estate heavyweight Lee Arnold announced plans Thursday to build an upscale, 17-story condominium and a luxury "boutique" hotel in an $80-million project that could boost downtown redevelopment. The project, which would span 1.7-acres between Osceola and Fort Harrison avenues south of Drew Street, incorporates some ideas voters rejected in a referendum on redevelopment last summer. Arnold, chairman of Colliers Arnold Commercial Real Estate Services, said ...

Tory Bezazian was a veteran Scientologist who loved going after church critics. Until she met the darkest detractor of all. Last year, Church of Scientology operatives received an alarming tip: During the upcoming 2000 MTV Movie Awards scheduled for June 8, a short South Park film parodying Battlefield Earth would feature the character Cartman wiping his ass with a copy of L. Ron Hubbard's sacred text, Dianetics. The tip was erroneous. Cartman would actually be wiping his ass with a Scientology ...

Prosecutors decide to drop a marijuana charge after jurors, concerned about church influence, deadlock. CLEARWATER — When the two-day misdemeanor trial of Scientology critic Jesse Prince ended Thursday, jurors had little doubt he had possessed marijuana as the state charged. What bothered some of them, according to two jurors, was the possibility that Prince had been set up by the Church of Scientology. They heard testimony about how Prince, once a high-ranking church member, was watched, videotaped and trailed for months ...

The defense is bringing the church into the case, saying that the arrest was tied to the church's relentless surveillance of a critic, the defendant. LARGO — Five lawyers helped fill the courtroom Wednesday in a misdemeanor trial that included poster-board-size charts, a video recording, expert scientific testimony, five other witnesses and repeated references to the Church of Scientology. After five hours of courtroom proceedings, the marijuana possession case against strident Scientology critic Jesse Prince still was not over at the ...

CLEARWATER — For months, a high-profile attorney for a prominent critic of the Church of Scientology has tried to show the church is behind a minor drug charge against his client. Now, on the eve of Jesse Prince's trial on a misdemeanor charge of growing marijuana, defense lawyer Denis de Vlaming has hit what he considers pay dirt. Pinellas County Judge Michael Andrews still must decide whether jurors get to hear how private detectives working for the church shadowed Prince for ...

The Church of Scientology investigated critic Jesse Prince, then passed information along to police. Last spring, a private investigator working for the Church of Scientology went to Largo police with a tip: A vocal critic of Scientology named Jesse Prince was involved with illegal drugs. Prince, 47, is a former church member and a key witness in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the church. Police investigated and arrested Prince, who is charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. The case is set ...

The blow to her credibility could make it difficult for Joan Wood to do her job, lawyers say. Although prosecutors said her "serious forensic error" ruined their case against the Church of Scientology, Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Joan Wood said Monday she has no plans to resign. But veteran lawyers predicted the case – and particularly the 31-page memo from prosecutors that blasted Wood as "illogical" and "inconsistent" – will dog her every time she takes the witness stand. That could make ...

Robert Minton intends to buy property in downtown Clearwater. Meanwhile, a restraining order against him is extended to Nov. 29. The Church of Scientology came to court Monday hoping its No. 1 enemy, Robert S. Minton, would never again be allowed near church properties in Clearwater. Instead, church officials learned that Minton, a 53-year-old New England millionaire, plans to be much too close for their comfort. Clearwater lawyer Denis de Vlaming told Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Thomas E. Penick Jr. that Minton ...

"I think there was a sense that this was a senseless death," said [Bob] Heyman, whose boss, State Attorney Bernie McCabe, was only beginning to examine the case of Lisa McPherson. Heyman, now in private practice, was preparing to end a 15-year career as a prosecutor. Among McCabe's options: Be aggressive and level a serious charge such as manslaughter, but risk a bruising legal battle with the Church of Scientology, which had taken on much bigger fish than McCabe. He eventually ...

Several months after she went to work at a Manhattan real estate firm, Karen Schwartz says her boss, developer Lawrence Feldman, ordered her to take an unusual series of night classes. Ms. Schwartz says he informed her they were simply "business courses." But when she arrived at the classroom, Ms. Schwartz couldn't have been more astonished. According to a complaint Ms. Schwartz has filed with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she was subjected to something close to an indoctrination into ...

Two years ago, an Allstate agent stood up at Sears's annual meeting to ask what then seemed a bizarre question. "To what extent," he inquired, "are the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard's Church of Scientology present today in Allstate and in Sears?" Edward Brennan, chairman of Sears, Roebuck & Co., and Wayne Hedien, then-chairman of Sears's Allstate Insurance Co. unit, both appeared bewildered. Mr. Brennan said he had no knowledge of any relationship at all. Mr. Hedien said he didn't even ...