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Jun 6, 2004
Church settlement brings relief — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) 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 ...
May 29, 2004
Scientologists settle death suit — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Terms of the unexpected settlement are confidential in the wrongful death suit brought by the estate of Lisa McPherson. A 7-year-old wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of Lisa McPherson against the Church of Scientology reached a surprise settlement this week, ending one of the most fiercely contested and enduring legal battles in Pinellas County history. The out-of-court agreement ends the last remaining legal threat facing the church after the widely publicized 1995 death of McPherson, a Scientologist who died ...
Aug 21, 2003
Scientology wanted millions, gets $4,500 — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Jurors don't buy the church's argument that a lawyer involved in a wrongful death case owes it more than $2-million. CLEARWATER — A tiny smile creased Ken Dandar's face as a clerk read the first count of the jury verdict. Compensatory damages he owed the Church of Scientology: $4,500. Dandar knew then he had won. The grin widened and Dandar began to playfully pat his attorney, Luke Lirot, as the clerk read through the rest of the counts. The amount he ...
Aug 20, 2003
Scientology seeks millions as punishment — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) A lawyer involved in a wrongful death suit should pay more than $2-million, the church contends. CLEARWATER — Large and imposing, Church of Scientology attorney Samuel Rosen stood before a Pinellas County jury Tuesday, arms waving, voice booming. Pointing at Tampa lawyer Ken Dandar, he growled to jurors that Dandar had taken a "garden variety" wrongful death lawsuit and allowed a church critic to turn it into "a frontal attack on an entire religion." Now, Rosen said, Dandar must be punished. ...
Aug 10, 2003
Builders find room for luxury homes — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Clearwater Village's developers envision 126 Mediterranean-style homes with a median cost of $450,000 to $500,000. CLEARWATER — Unicorns. Free lunches. Large tracts of undeveloped Clearwater land. None of those things exist, right? In fact, 24 vacant acres do exist in Clearwater, land that has been largely untouched since mules grazed there some 80 years ago. Developers snatched it up, of course. And then they thought about what to do with their blank canvas. Surrounded as it is by a church, low-income ...
Jul 6, 2003
Scientology takes mission to the streets — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The church is buying property, increasing staff and raising its profile with TV ads and special offers. TAMPA — A group of high-ranking Scientologists, concerned the church's Tampa facilities aren't up to snuff, is investing more than $2.5-million to buy a second cigar factory in West Tampa and to lease and renovate a two-story building on one of the hottest corners in Ybor City. The church's three properties, staffed by nearly 100 people, will be the base for Scientology's most aggressive ...
Jun 11, 2003
Church withdraws venue change request — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Scientologists will let the trial "determine the ability to empanel an unbiased jury." CLEARWATER — Church of Scientology officials thought hard before making public a survey they commissioned that found widespread negative opinions about Scientology. The church then used the survey to argue that negative media reports had prejudiced Tampa Bay area residents so badly that the church could not get a fair trial in an upcoming civil case. The trial should be moved, they said. Church officials knew the survey ...
May 23, 2003
Church requests that trial be moved — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The church says a survey shows that Pinellas jurors have been heavily influenced by media reports. Respondents used words such as "cult" and "evil" frequently. CLEARWATER — Earlier this spring, as the Church of Scientology prepared for its biggest trial in recent history, professional researchers combed Tyrone Square Mall asking Pinellas residents what they thought of the church. "A cult," said person after person. "Scam," said one. "Crooks," said another. The researchers, hired by the church, questioned 300 people. Their findings ...
Mar 30, 2003
Detox center seeks wider acceptance — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Narconon, a drug treatment program with Scientology backing, now wants taxpayer assistance. CLEARWATER – At Tampa Bay's newest alternative to mainstream drug treatment, the license issued by the state hangs next to commendations from the Church of Scientology. Narconon, a controversial drug treatment program based on techniques developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, has opened its first Florida facility in Clearwater in a commercial park off U.S. 19. Past the meticulously clean lobby are classrooms where recovering addicts take a ...
Mar 1, 2003
Scientologists establish missions in their back yard / A Belleair storefront opened more than a year ago to spread "hope for man." Four more sites are planned in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Aug 23, 2002
Scientologists donate funds to firefighters — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The church's check will pay for double-breasted jackets with brass buttons for Clearwater Fire Department's Honor Guard. CLEARWATER — A new ceremonial unit of the Clearwater Fire Department will now be fully uniformed, thanks to a $3,300 contribution from the Church of Scientology's Volunteer Ministers. City manager Bill Horne, who was asked by the fire chief to okay the donation presented to firefighters Thursday, said he thinks this is the first monetary donation Scientologists ever have made to the city. After ...
Aug 2, 2001
Man's film a veiled look at Scientology — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) A 20-year former Scientologist who now calls it a cult has created a work of fiction that closely resembles the Clearwater group. It's a movie about cults based on fictional characters, says the director. But it's hard to miss the inspiration behind The Profit. The main character is a science-fiction writer who founds a religion. Get it? The leader starts the Church of Scientific Spiritualism. His name: L. Conrad Powers. The full-length feature film was written and directed by Peter Alexander, ...
Jun 22, 2001
Church scores round in death suit — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Robert Farley Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) A judge dismisses the allegation that Lisa McPherson was falsely imprisoned. ST. PETERSBURG — The Church of Scientology won a partial victory Thursday when a judge dismissed one of four counts in a 4-year-old wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of Lisa McPherson. In one of his final acts overseeing the case, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Frank Quesada dismissed the count alleging that McPherson was falsely imprisoned. Ken Dandar, the lawyer representing the McPherson estate, argued that McPherson was psychotic and ...
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