TAMPA - The Church of Scientology is poised to become steward of perhaps the most iconic brick-and-mortar symbol of this fabled cigar town's history — a move that could signal a greater presence for Scientologists just outside downtown Tampa. The church recently purchased Ybor Square for about $7 million, records show. The three-building complex at 1911 N. 13th St., between Eighth and Ninth avenues, is the former home of what was once the largest cigar factory in the world. Built in ...

[... Trustee seeks leave to amend the Adversary Complaints to include more detailed information regarding Keene and Blyskal’s involvement in a massive scheme to defraud dental patients and transfer significant sums of money to Church of Scientology ("CAS") or CAS related entities. The Trustee through proper investigation and analysis of various documents was able to unearth further information relating to this scheme. ...] —– UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA MIAMI DIVISION www.flsb.usc0urts.g0v In re: Chapter 7 RENE PIEDRA ...

Tampa, Florida — It is one of Tampa's most famous building complexes, dating back to 1886. Ybor Square, which houses the Spaghetti Warehouse and Creative Loafing newspaper, is owned by the Church of Scientology. As a religious building, the church will be exempt from paying almost $75,000 in property taxes. Vince Pardo, the head of the Ybor Community Development District, says that is a big concern, because the taxes generated are the budget for Ybor City. Pardo says he is also ...

CLEARWATER — Ten-year-old Anais Jean made it out of one the world's worst natural disasters, a magnitude 7 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people and crippled her Caribbean nation of Haiti. Her father hoped they could rebuild in Clearwater, where they settled after the quake. But tragedy has stricken the Jean family once again. Anais died May 3, four days after she fell from the roof of Mike and Mary Campbell's Chateauwood Drive home, Clearwater public safety spokeswoman Elizabeth Watts ...

Per a letter sent last night to Creative Loafing’s chief financial officer, CL now has a new landlord: The Church of Scientology of Tampa, Inc. We broke the story of the prospective purchase last weekend on the Daily Loaf after finding documentation of the deal-in-progress at the City of Tampa zoning office. That news was a surprise to most of Ybor, most especially to CL and our fellow tenants in Ybor Square (which include Centurion Center, an executive suite rental company ...

Last week, as Creative Loafing was preparing to move from temporary quarters to permanent office space in Ybor Square (right), we heard the rumors: The historic former cigar factory, built in 1886 by Vicente Martinez Ybor, was up for sale — and the prospective buyer was The Church of Scientology. Whoa. We looked into it. No one could confirm. Calls weren’t returned. Then I checked with the City of Tampa’s zoning office, and there it was in black and white: In ...

With two recent public confrontations, a year-long, highly publicized drama in the world of Scientology has spilled into the streets of Clearwater. The latest incident occurred Friday afternoon as seven members of the Church of Scientology — including five senior members of its California-based international management team — surrounded and screamed at a former church executive, then loudly carried the dispute into the office of an unsuspecting and startled doctor. The former executive was Mike Rinder, 55, Scientology's longtime spokesman, whose ...

In a sleepy beach town in the Bible Belt, a 22-year-old journalist found himself in the middle of what was then considered by some a cult - and is now known as the Church of Scientology. That young journalist was adjunct professor Richard Leiby, one of the first to unearth religious leaders' clandestine activities during his time at The Clearwater Sun in Florida. During his stay at the now defunct Tampa Bay-area newspaper, Leiby was sent to the nation's capital to ...

TARPON SPRINGS — Fred W. "Bill" Howard made a name for himself in his native Tarpon Springs as a real estate developer in the 1980s. But he left the area after a series of controversies, from his dealings with the Church of Scientology to a failed business venture that ended in bankruptcy, several longtime Tarpon Springs residents said this week. "He disappeared off the face of the Earth," said City Manager Mark LeCouris. "I hadn't seen him in over 20 years." ...

TAMPA (2010-2-25) - The Church of Scientology is deploying a new weapon in its three-decade battle with the St. Petersburg Times: award-winning investigative journalists. Those reporters completed their own review of the newspaper's coverage of Scientology, but church officials won’t release it. In 1980, The St. Petersburg Times won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the secretive religion, headquartered in Clearwater. Since then, church officials have said the newspaper’s coverage is unfair. So church officials decided to do something about ...

As one of the beneficiaries of Thursday's "From Paris With Love" movie gala, the Ocala Detoxification Project has puzzled many locals. The Paris-themed party will raise money for local deputies, police officers, firefighters and a college scholarship fund. But few in Marion County know anything about detoxification. Up front, here are some facts: The Ocala Detoxification Project is designed to help firefighters and other uniformed personnel who are exposed to toxins. It likely will launch with funds from the gala. "From ...

Tickets remain for Ocala's "From Paris With Love" movie-premiere gala, anchored by movie stars and Anthony residents John Travolta and Kelly Preston. About 300 tickets went on sale Tuesday for the Feb. 4 event, which will raise funds for local law enforcement, fire departments, a Central Florida Community College scholarship and a detoxification project for local firefighters and emergency workers who have been exposed to toxins. Tickets are $300 and can be purchased through www.cfccfoundation.org/FromParisWithLove.htm, said CFCC spokeswoman Lois Brauckmuller. The ...

[Picture of property] Built in 1925 on 6.4 acres, the Fenway resort on the shore of St. Joseph Sound served as a waterfront getaway for Jazz Age high society. It has also been the campus of two colleges. DUNEDIN — George Rahdert invested $6 million of his money into the Fenway renovation, hoping profits from hotel customers and condo sales would follow its timely completion. Yet after four years and another $6 million in borrowed money, not a single shovel has ...

A former Scientology leader says bullying is widespread in the church, writes investigations reporter Nick O'Malley. Coerced abortion, violence, intimidation and demands for ever greater "donations" have become unofficial Church of Scientology policy, beginning at its Florida head office and leaching around the world, the church's most senior defector has said. Marty Rathbun, who until 2004 was the church's second-most powerful man, answering only to the present leader, David Miscavige, said the church leadership was obsessed with destroying dissent and increasing ...

Hollywood figures quit 'rip-off' church as Australian prime minister threatens parliamentary inquiry into its activities The security at the red-brick and glass-walled horseshoe of the John Joseph Moakley courthouse on Boston's waterfront was unusually tight. Anybody who was not a member of the city's bar association was swept with a search wand. Photo IDs were checked. Mobile phones were taken from guests, who included the Hollywood star Tom Cruise. The occasion was a memorial service for Scientology's top legal adviser for ...

Over the last several months, The St. Petersburg Times published a series of scathing articles on the Church of Scientology under the rubric “The Truth Rundown.” In 1980, the newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize for an investigation of the church’s inner workings. Coverage of Scientology has long been an important story for The St. Petersburg Times, given that the church’s spiritual headquarters is located in nearby Clearwater, Fla. So it came as a bit of a shock when, on Friday, the ...

The Times Publishing Co., parent company of the St. Petersburg Times, has agreed to sell Governing magazine to a California media company. Governing has operated out of Washington, D.C., since its beginnings in 1987. It covers local and state government. The buyer is e.Republic, based in Sacramento. The purchase will close the week after Thanksgiving for a price neither side would disclose. E.Republic was chosen from among six bidders for the magazine, said Andrew Corty, corporate vice president of Times Publishing. ...