CHICAGO (RNS) The windows are boarded-up and there's a "Keep Out" sign in the windowsill. Many in the Printer's Row neighborhood are unaware that the vacant brick building is slated to become Illinois' new welcome center for the Church of Scientology at the end of the year. The $4-million purchase of the seven-story structure is part of a nationwide push by Scientologists to open a host of new church buildings and draw new members into the faith. In all, more than ...

EUFAULA — Narconon Arrowhead, the drug rehabilitation and international training center formerly known as Narconon Chilocco Center near Newkirk, has relocated to Lake Eufaula. The center, considered the with a ribbon cutting and barbecue. The relocation was necessary because of expansion. Narconon now has centers in 29 countries. Its mission is "to eradicate the problem of drug and alcohol abuse internationally through effective rehabilitation and education.' Narconon uses an approach developed by author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. The Eufaula center, ...

Newkirk — In 1989, Newkirk residents prepared for a battle to stop the establishment of a drug and alcohol treatment program north of their town. It was an often bitter fight through the court system that lasted almost three years. Then, Narconon International received its certification in 1992 to establish a treatment center six miles north of Newkirk leased from five Indian tribes. Now, Narconon is closing its Newkirk branch in favor of combining the entire treatment site at Arrowhead Lodge ...

A controversial drug and alcohol abuse center in north-central Oklahoma achieved a big victory Friday in its two-year battle for state approval. Less than a year after calling Narconon Chilocco New Life Center's treatment program unsafe and experimental, the Oklahoma Board of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services voted unanimously Friday to exempt the facility from a state requirement to be certified. The decision came after Narconon showed it had gained approval from a private organization, the Commission for Accreditation of ...

A group that follows some of the teachings of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is setting up a national drug and alcohol rehabilitation program at the former Chilocco Indian School in northern Oklahoma, and that has some area residents worried. The Newkirk City Commission has scheduled a Monday night informational meeting about the Narconon International project, which over 25 years could bring as much as $16 million in lease payments to five Indian tribes in the Chilocco Development Authority. ...