Newsflash: Voters Approve California's Proposition 22

With 21% of the vote reported, at 10:30 pm pacific time, the San Francisco Examiner showed that Proposition 22 had received 60% of the vote to 40% opposing the measure. CNN and other media outlets had earlier projected that Proposition 22 would pass based on exit polls.

President Hinckley Announces Educational Assistance Fund At National Press Club

Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., President Hinckley departed somewhat from his prepared remarks (available on the LDS Church's website) and announced that the LDS Church is preparing to establish an educational loan program to assist LDS Church members outside the United States in obtaining higher education. The exciting announcement comes after the number of LDS Church members outside the U.S. has exceeded those inside the U.S.

President Hinckley's remarks at National Press Club

To date, the most amazing Washington event I have attended occurred this afternoon at the National Press Club. President Hinckley was holding a press conference about his new book Standing for Something. In the room were around 200 people, 3/4ths of which were press, including Mike Wallace (who wrote the foreword for the book) and many other notable figures. Also in attendance were Senators Hatch, Bennett, Reid (NV), and Gordon Smith (OR) and many other congressmen and influential people from the area. There were also the crashers (myself included) who came to hear Pres. Hinckley take on the DC press corps right after super Tuesday amid Prop 22 and Bob Jones U.

Hinckley Speech To National Press Club Today

President Gordon B. Hinckley is scheduled to speak to the National Press Club today at 1 p.m. EST on his new book, "Standing for Something." The long-planned speech will be available live over the radio, including Internet radio, and the previously written text of the speech will be available on the Church's website soon after the speech begins.

Another Mormon Prop. 22 Suicide?

Planet Out News says it has not been able to confirm or refute reports that a second LDS Church member has committed suicide over the attitudes of LDS Church members towards homosexuals. According to the report, David James "DJ" Thompson of Mohave County, Arizona, committed suicide on March 9th, leaving notes blaming the LDS Church.

Palmyra Temple Dedication Ceremony To Be Broadcast To Stake Centers

Literski reports on his Latter-day Saint Temple Homepage that the dedication of the Palmyra Temple will be broadcast by encrypted transmission to stake centers in the U.S. and Canada. A letter read in Sacrament meetings explained that Church members can obtain special recommends from their bishops or branch presidents to attend the broadcast of the dedication.

Analysis: Battles Over Same-Sex Marriage May Continue

Tuesday's passage of Proposition 22 in California was hailed by LDS Church leaders and others favoring the measure designed to keep same-sex marriages out of California while gay rights activists expressed disappointment at its passage. However, the proposition's passage may not settle the issue. Some gay rights activists are already seeking ways to reverse the decision and conservative activists are seeking ways to use the connections made during the campaign to roll-back other rights given to homosexuals, just as gay activists had feared.

Backhoe Accident Ruined LDS Church's Attempt To Bury Mountain Meadows

Calling the Mountain Meadows Massacre the "worst slaughter of white civilians in the history of the frontier West," the Salt Lake Tribune launched a three-part article on the background of last year's dedication of a restored monument at Mountain Meadows and the controversial way that remains of 29 victims, accidentally uncovered by a backhoe during construction of the monument, were handled. Instead of finally putting to rest the massacre, the Tribune says that the Church's efforts may have accidentally opened "another sad chapter in the massacre's legacy of bitterness, denial and suspicion."

RLDS Church To Change First Presidency

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is expected to fill a coming vacancy in its First Presidency in its upcoming World Conference in April. The vacancy occurs because Howard S. Sheehy, Jr., a member of the First Presidency for 22 years, is retiring. RLDS Church president W. Grant McMurray announced Thursday, March 9th that he is recommending that Peter A. Judd, currently secretary to the Council of Twelve Apostles, replace Sheehy.

Student Prayer Again an Issue for High Court

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments later this month in the case of a Mormon family and a Catholic family, who sued the Santa Fe Texas School Board over intolerance by the majority Baptist population against their religions. The case has focused on the school board's permitting student-led prayers at school events, including school assemblies and the graduation ceremony to football games.

US News Says Bush's Speech at Bob Jones U. Will Cost Mormon Votes

Bedard of U.S. News &World Report says in the coming March 6th issue that Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has lost some Mormon votes because of his recent speech at South Carolina's Bob Jones University. The University, which has repeatedly called Mormonism and Catholicism cults, is known for its ultra-conservative positions, including its intolerance of interracial dating and civil rights for African-Americans.

Pres. Monson To Speak At CEU Graduation

President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency of the LDS Church, will speak at the graduation ceremonies of the College of Eastern Utah this spring. The Graduation is scheduled for May 6th.

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