1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ⇑ Latest ↑ Later Earlier ↓ Earliest ⇓ Mar 20, 1984
A taxi arrives at Mother Hubbard's Cupboard — Clearwater Sun (Florida)
Mar 14, 1984
Scientologist's tape to get review — Clearwater Sun (Florida)
Mar 13, 1984
Letters to the Editor / New York man objects to [Sun?] — Clearwater Sun (Florida)
Mar 12, 1984
Scientologist denies police report he was detained by sect members — Clearwater Times (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Judy Brennan Source:
Clearwater Times (Florida) CLEARWATER — Calling a police account a lie, Scientologist Daniel Cotrino said at no time did any church members try to physically detain him at the sect's headquarters last week. Cotrino, 30, of Brooklyn, N.Y., told a completely different story from the account police released last week and accused three officers of lying in their report. "We have his statements on tape," said detective Ken Fairchild. "The report was written from those statements." ASKED why he believed police would lie about ...
Mar 9, 1984
Scientologist says sect detained him — Clearwater Sun (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
George-Wayne Shelor Source:
Clearwater Sun (Florida) For the second time since January, a Scientologist trying to leave the sect's international headquarters at the former Fort Harrison Hotel was physically detained until police intervened, according to police. Daniel Codrino, who traveled from New York to Clearwater to take $7,000 in Scientology courses, was told he would have to pay an additional $1,165 for another course, according to a Clearwater police report. Codrino refused to pay and when he tried to leave, two sect members tried to push him ...
Feb 17, 1984
Sect threatens suit over lodging law — Clearwater Sun (Florida)
Feb 9, 1984
Sect president denies wrongdoing in probe — Clearwater Sun (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Jeff Mangum Source:
Clearwater Sun (Florida) Recent reports about the Church of Scientology hiring de-? pose as businessmen to elicit views about the sect from Clearwater civic leaders are "much ado about nothing," sect President Heber Jentzsch said Wednesday. "The issues all will come out in court," the 48-year-old Jentzsch told reporters during an "open house" at the sect-owned Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater. Jentzsch would not discuss specifics, but hinted the Scientology inquiry was tied into concerns about real estate speculation downtown and its potential ...
Jan 24, 1984
Scientologists sue Clearwater over ordinance — Clearwater Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , link
Jan 7, 1984
Sect holds conference to debunk kidnap story — Clearwater Sun (Florida)
Nov 1, 1983
Scientologists reveal plan for renovation — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Jill Hancock Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology plans a $3-million restoration of the former Fort Harrison Hotel and the church-owned Sandcastle Motor Inn. Speaking before television cameras at a press conference called in the ornate hotel lobby, church spokesman Richard Haworth said the project indicates that "we are obviously in Clearwater to stay." But the church's upbeat affirmation of its downtown presence brought chuckles of skepticism and moans of disapproval from some local officials and civic leaders. The controversial sect's reasons for ...
Oct 30, 1983
Tide turning // Scientologists may be losing battle with Clearwater — Miami HeraldMore: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Anders Gyllenhaal Source:
Miami Herald CLEARWATER — A poker-faced doorman bows slightly at the entrance of the Fort Harrison and motions visitors to the lobby, where a crowd waits at the front desk and dozens of guests rush up and down the marble staircases beneath the crystal chandeliers. A larger-than-life portrait of L. Ron Hubbard, the reclusive founder of Scientology, stares down upon his followers from high on the wall. Many of them wear the sea merchant uniform that is part of their code. Most criss-cross ...
Aug 1, 1983
Scientologists' 'hiring' practices draw criticism — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , news.google.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Tim Johnson Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) CLEARWATER — In Pinellas County — with its 7 percent unemployment rate the signs on the four Church of Scientology buildings draw attention. Two say simply, "Now Hiring." Others promise a job with "low pay — great future." One along busy U.S. 19 touts jobs for "kitchen personnel." Two others boast: "We are recruiting." What the signs don't say is that the Church of Scientology isn't looking for employees. It is trying to recruit members. The signs also don't say that ...
May 23, 1983
Late Night: L. Ron Hubbard Jr. — Public Broadcasting Television (PBS)More: Youtube
Type: TV
Source:
Public Broadcasting Television (PBS) [picture of L. Ron Hubbard in cowboy attire with a camera] HOST—VOICE OF: Believers think of L. Ron Hubbard as a genius and a saint; detractors call him a fraud and, according to his own son, one of the biggest con men of the century. HOST—ON CAMERA: Whether L. Ron Hubbard is alive or sane is also up for grabs. Our guests are Ron DeWolf, who is L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. He split with his father in 1959 and is now ...
Jan 30, 1983
City, Scientologists fighting new battle in 7-year-old war / Scientologists cite changes; city officials skeptical — Miami Herald
May 12, 1982
Group offers $3.25-million to buy hotel, motel from Scientologists — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Laurie Hollman Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) CLEARWATER—Four doctors, a certified public accountant, a lawyer and a businessman have offered the Church of Scientology $3.25-million in cash to buy the former Fort Harrison Hotel and Sandcastle Motel. The offer was made Tuesday, one day after the Clearwater City Commission ended its public hearings on Scientology. The church has 60 days to respond. Church spokesman Hugh Wilhere said he does not plan to meet with the group. "We get offers all the time" to buy property, he said, but ...
May 11, 1982
16 witnesses unlock sect's closed society — Clearwater Sun (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Bill Prescott Source:
Clearwater Sun (Florida) The 16 witnesses who testified in Clearwater's public hearings on Church of Scientology activities provided the first-hand information city officials will use if they decide to design ordinances to regulate the sect. Boston attorney Michael Flynn, who gathered the witnesses, said he questioned them extensively about their Scientology experiences and people they knew in the sect. He confirmed that information through other witnesses and contacts inside the church, he said. If they had not been in the sect, Flynn said, "I'd ...
May 11, 1982
Scientology starts publicity campaign — Clearwater Sun (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Steven Girardi Source:
Clearwater Sun (Florida) The Church of Scientology has embarked on a citywide publicity campaign in the wake of five days of public hearings on the sect by the Clearwater City Commission, a church minister said Monday. At a 10:30 a.m. press conference, Scientology spokesman the Rev. Hugh Wilhere announced the beginning of an "open house" publicity campaign. Less than an hour earlier church attorney Paul B. Johnson of Tampa had told the Commission he would not use the four days set aside for church ...
May 10, 1982
Sect to counterattack, city told — Clearwater Sun (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Bill Prescott Source:
Clearwater Sun (Florida) Clearwater city commissioners received a warning and some advice Saturday as witnesses gave final testimony against the Church of Scientology during public hearings on the sect's activities. Scientologists' four-day time slot to present their side in the controversy begins Monday. Church spokesman Hugh Wilhere said Saturday night it has not been decided whether the sect will take advantage of its rebuttal time. The warning came near the end of the hearings as consultant Michael Flynn, the Boston attorney hired by the ...
May 9, 1982
Witnesses tell of break-ins, conpiracy — Clearwater Sun (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Steven Girardi Source:
Clearwater Sun (Florida) In a story of international intrigue, a former senior executive of the Church of Scientology testified Saturday about a worldwide sect network involving infiltrations, conspiracies and smuggling. Scott Mayer, 38, told Clearwater city commissioners "I have personal experiences of all of these," in the forth day of the city's Scientology hearings, where legal consultant Michael Flynn paraded seven of his most damaging witnesses. Commissioners heard also from a former Guardian Office worker who said she used the sect's "confessional files" during ...
May 8, 1982
City of Clearwater 1982 Hearings - Church of Scientology: Janie Peterson
May 8, 1982
City of Clearwater 1982 Hearings - Church of Scientology: LaVenda Van Schaick
May 8, 1982
Scientology critics parade to hearings — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
John Harwood Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) CLEARWATER — Six more witnesses denounced the Church of Scientology and its practices Friday during public hearings on the organization. For the third straight day, the critical testimony was a mixture of information concerning Scientology's Clearwater operations and church activities elsewhere. City commissioners, who are having the hearings, heard from: * Casey Kelly, 23, who joined Scientology to crusade against "war," "crime" and "insanity" but later became disenchanted with long hours and low pay as a church employee here. * Rosie ...
May 8, 1982
Sect witnesses recount fear, deception, 'suicide' — Clearwater Sun (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Steven Girardi Source:
Clearwater Sun (Florida) Teen-ager David Ray testified Friday he had a spectacular start with the Church of Scientology in California, but quickly became a rebel trapped in The Fort Harrison Hotel, relegated to cleaning rooms and stomping garbage. Casey Kelly, 23, testifying for the second day, said he "wasn't a very good Scientologist," either. "One thing you don't do in Scientology is joke around, so obviously I didn't make out very well," he quipped. Like one other witness called in the third day of ...
May 7, 1982
Ex-member cites abuse by church — Tampa Tribune (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Tom Ward Source:
Tampa Tribune (Florida) CLEARWATER — Lori Taverna was a young, impressionable mother of two children when a friend took her to a free lecture given by the Church of Scientology in June 1965. "It sounded very good," she testified Thursday. "It sounded like it was something I was looking for. "I thought it was great," she said. "I was joining a group that would handle drugs crime and war. And, my children would be growing up in this." Part of Taverna's education by the ...
May 7, 1982
Ex-Scientologists detail grim lifestyle — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
John Harwood Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) CLEARWATER — Life at the Church of Scientology's Fort Harrison Hotel was so miserable, Lori Taverna remembered Thursday, that "I felt that I was in . . . an insane asylum." Casey Kelly recalled being distressed by the hard work and low pay. "Here I was, working 70 to 80 hours a week, and I was making $20," Kelly said. "This did not jive." Eventually both Kelly, 23, and Ms. Taverna, 39, quit Scientology. Thursday they testified before Clearwater city commissioners ...
May 7, 1982
Foreign writer sees 'black side' to church — Clearwater Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Laurie Hollman Source:
Clearwater Times (Florida) CLEARWATER — Sven Egil Omdal watched the Clearwater City Commission's public hearings on Scientology and then returned to the Surfside Holiday Inn Wednesday evening — to find the door to his room ajar. He is sure he had locked it. He is also sure the incident has something to do with a visit the 29-year-old Norwegian journalist made earlier in the day. He went to the former Fort Harrison Hotel, nerve center of the Clearwater-based church, and proffered his business card. ...
May 7, 1982
Fort Harrison: 'horror house' — Clearwater Sun (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Bill Prescott Source:
Clearwater Sun (Florida) A 17-year veteran of the Church of Scientology told Clearwater city commissioners Thursday she lived through "horror" while staying at the former Fort Harrison Hotel three years ago. Lori Taverna, who said she broke with the sect two months ago, was asked by Mayor Charles LeCher to describe a "normal day" while she worked as a Scientology trainer. "Most of it was horror, so I don't know," said Mrs. Taverna, 39. But in about three hours of testimony during the second ...
May 6, 1982
Walters: 'They'll take the Kool-Aid' — Clearwater Sun (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Steven Girardi Source:
Clearwater Sun (Florida) The Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater could be the scene of another Jonestown-type mass suicide when Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard dies, a former high-ranking church official said Wednesday. Edward Walters, the first witness called during Clearwater's public hearings into Scientology practices, said under oath that many Scientologists are "addicted" to Hubbard the way members of the People's Temple were to their leader, the Rev. Jim Jones. "If Hubbard decides to leave this planet he'll take the others with him—they ...
May 3, 1982
A confrontation of city vs. church scheduled this week — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
John Harwood Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) CLEARWATER — After six and a half years of uneasy, often hostile coexistence, the city of Clearwater this week embarks on its first formal confrontation with the Church of Scientology. In a series of hearings beginning Wednesday, the City Commission will conduct a public investigation of the controversial group. The architect of the hearings — a brash Boston lawyer named Michael J. Flynn — says the proceedings will "demonstrate the fraudulent, commercial and criminal activities" of Scientology. Church officials derisively predict ...
May 3, 1982
Poor image plagued church from start — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
John Harwood Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) CLEARWATER — Unlike some of his colleagues in the Clearwater business community, developer Alan Bomstein doesn't regard the Church of Scientology as a threat to the city's economic future. But he does agree that L. Ron Hubbard's 32-year-old, self-styled "religion" has an image problem. "The Church of Scientology," Bomstein says, "is the classic, textbook example of bad public relations." On the eve of City Commission hearings into church activities, there is little doubt that Scientology is the least popular institution in ...
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