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 - The Internet-based group Anonymous held its third protest in about three months Saturday outside the headquarters of the Church of Scientology. Although it started with about 50 people at 3 p.m., the number swelled to about 200 an hour later. Joshua Nussbaum, 20, an organizer, said the point of Saturday's protest was to focus public attention on what he says is the church's practice of ostracizing loved ones perceived as a threat. Elizabeth Daly-Watts, Clearwater public safety spokeswoman, said ...

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 ...

Highland Beach - A group that sent out thousands of unsolicited copies of a guidebook promoting Scientology precepts is ending the practice after receiving hundreds of complaints from elected officials. Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote the 64-page, soft-cover book titled The Way to Happiness: A Common Sense Guide to Better Living. "The mailing is not going to be sent out like this again due to some complaints of recipients about 'using' their logo or photograph without consent," Joni Ginsberg, executive ...

HIGHLAND BEACH — "I'm very pleased to offer this book," says a note on the back of a booklet titled The Way to Happiness; about 20 were delivered recently to town hall. The note says more copies may be obtained from "Harold Hagelman, Town of Highland Beach," followed by the town hall address. The booklet front says it's "presented by" the mayor. What are these? "No, no, no, no. I didn't sponsor anything," Hagelmann - his name was misspelled on the ...

Goodwill wants to house a work-release program in a former motel that backs up to a mobile home park. [Picture] "It's a bad element, and it's right next to us," said Daniel O'Connor, who lives in the Embassy Mobile home park in Largo. About 200 park residents lined up along the U.S. 19 frontage road north of East Bay Road Wednesday, in protest of a work-release facility Goodwill administrators want to put nearby. An estimated 200 residents of three mobile home ...

The Associated Press article, "Germany Officials Call For Scientology Ban" that ran in the Tribune Dec. 10 omits the fact that the German Ministers of Interior conference Dec. 7 did not vote for a motion to instigate procedures to ban Scientology. Instead, those officials recognized that there is no evidence to support such a motion. Furthermore, Federal Minister of Interior Wolfgang Schauble in an interview with German Radio, also on Dec. 7, conceded that there is no legal basis for such ...

A longtime dormitory for Church of Scientology staffers will become the site of a work-release program for more than 200 nonviolent inmates if Goodwill Industries-Suncoast buys the property near East Bay Drive and U.S. 19. But that's a big if, said Goodwill spokeswoman Michael Ann Harvey. "As the minutes tick by and days tick by, more problems are occurring with the condition of the building and what it would require financially for Goodwill to bring it up to requirements," Harvey said. ...

Joyce Meyer calls herself a woman of God, and maybe she is, but Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, wants to know how Meyer can justify spending $23,000 in tax-exempt religious contributions for a marble-topped commode. Meyer's church, Joyce Meyer Ministries in Missouri, is one of six Christian ministries Grassley is investigating for possible abuses of their tax-exempt status. Another of Grassley's targets is Without Walls International Church, a controversial megachurch based in Tampa. Politicians should be careful when delving into ...

Prosecutors call the church a "criminal organization." The church says it's a "witch hunt." BRUSSELS — It all began with a woman who wanted her money back. In 1997 a former member of the Church of Scientology, unhappy with courses she had taken, tried to get a refund of 700,000 Belgian francs - about $17,000. Authorities began looking into the church's finances and interviewing people. Now, 10 years and 76 cartons of documents later, prosecutors say the evidence points to one ...

Construction of the Island View condominium and retail complex on the northern edge of downtown won't begin by the end of the year as initially planned because of slow sales and a slight change to the project's design. But officials with Triangle Development of Clearwater say sales have steadily picked up and construction will begin by Dec. 31, 2008 - the new deadline the City Council unanimously approved Wednesday night. Triangle executives asked the council for a one-year extension on their ...

Sure, says Mayor Frank Hibbard. It can be a little unsettling sometimes — throngs of Scientologists wandering Clearwater's streets in their blue or khaki trousers and crisp dress shirts. Sometimes, it makes the neighbors a bit uneasy. "When you come to downtown, no one likes being a minority," Mr. Hibbard said. But mostly, folks in this picturesque Gulf Coast city have come to accept that Clearwater is to Scientologists what Salt Lake City is to Mormons, what Mecca is to Muslims. ...

CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology is in announcement mode again, this time saying it will spend $20-million on a major upgrade of its iconic Fort Harrison Hotel. But what church officials aren't saying is exactly when the work will start. So, expect some eye rolls. That's because across the street from the Fort Harrison is Scientology's seven-story Super Power building. Stuccoed, trimmed and painted on the outside, the huge building is unfinished and vacant on the inside. And, remarkably, it's ...

TAMPA, Fla. - The Rev. Charles Kennedy travels the country preaching the brilliance of L. Ron Hubbard’s words. Children in his after-school program learn with the Scientology founder’s methods; church members study one of his books. The minister calls Scientologists the kindest people he’s met and their programs the best he’s found. One thing sets Kennedy apart: He and his congregants are not Scientologists. They are Christians. The Glorious Church of God in Christ here is among a number of houses ...

MIRAMAR BEACH — Controversy over a proposed drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility has moved from one beachside neighborhood to another. Narconon Gulf Coast Inc. wants to purchase a beach house at 263 Snowdrift Road and turn it into a 28-bed residential facility. The nonprofit organization drew heated opposition earlier this year with its plan to buy a house on Scenic Gulf Drive for the same purpose. That purchase has since fallen through, and Narconon is now hoping to buy the house ...

New housing is now available for members of the Church of Scientology's staff after $1.7 million in renovations were completed at Sherwood Gardens, a 106-unit apartment complex located three miles east of downtown Clearwater. Church executives purchased the apartment complex in 1999 for $4 million, which includes 105,800 square feet of rental unit space on 7.5 acres just off Keene Road. Renovations expanded beyond the units, including planting trees and gardens throughout the property. The re-opening of the apartment complex comes ...

TAMPA — The red letters on the white sign in front of the Glorious Church of God in Christ read "Free Tutoring in the C.L. Kennedy Center." An arrow points to a building behind the church. Every afternoon after school, as many as 42 Hillsborough County public school students gather for tutoring in reading and math skills. Most start with a Learning to Learn course, which teaches the basics of L. Ron Hubbard's how-to-study program. The tutors, all wearing red vests, ...

BATON ROUGE, La. — Inside the industrial looking brick walls of one of Louisiana's poorest performing middle schools, Scientologists finally have achieved a longtime goal. A study skills curriculum written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is being taught as mainstream public education. All the eighth-graders at Prescott Middle School are being taught learning techniques Hubbard devised four decades ago when he set out to remedy what he viewed as barriers to learning. The curriculum and textbooks used by Prescott's 156 ...

The man hired to build the world's largest automated-parking garage is a 6-foot-4 engineer with the Renaissance-sounding name of Royce Savoy Monteverdi. Construction on the 1, 200-car garage is under way in oil-rich Dubai, a rapidly emerging international finance center best known as Michael Jackson's latest playground. In an e-mail exchange from the Persian Gulf city, Monteverdi said the huge project and three others there have freed him to ponder a new career in the more rarefied world of architecture. You ...