General News

Supreme Court Rules For Mormon Family In School Prayer Case The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Monday for a Mormon and a Catholic family that challenged the Santa Fe Texas Independent School District's policy of allowing student-led prayers before high school football games. The court ruled that these prayers violate the US Constitution's first amendment, which prohibits the "establishment of religion."

How Could A Mormon Family Sue Over School Prayer? This week's news that the Supreme Court had ruled against allowing the Santa Fe, Texas Independent School District to have "student-led voluntary prayers" before high school football games was disappointing to many conservative Mormons. It was also shocking for many that a the lawsuit had been filed by a Mormon family. But an analysis of the case history shows why a Mormon family might file such a lawsuit.

LDS Church Confirms Mormon News Report - Magazines Online Next Month The LDS Church confirmed Friday Mormon News' report that the Ensign, New Era and Friend are going on line. Mormon News reported Tuesday that the magazines will be put on line 90 days after publication, according to a letter to local leaders from Elder Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Local News

Changes Ahead for Ricks As It Becomes BYU-Idaho At a news conference yesterday announcing that Ricks College would become a four-year institution and change its name to BYU-Idaho, details of some of the changes at the campus were revealed. Among the changes are plans to drop Ricks' junior college athletic program, which has won several championships, and add several bachelor degree programs to the school.

Winners and Loosers In Ricks/BYU-Idaho Changes The changes at Ricks College, soon to be four-year school BYU-Idaho, caught both the local community and educators by surprise, and left even academics and administrators at the school uncertain about exactly what the changes will mean. But the little that is known already heralds big changes in the school, the community and in education elsewhere.

Youth Drugs 17 at LDS Church Function In Ohio A 15-year-old boy has admitted to drugging 17 people at an LDS Church function Wednesday night by putting a prescription sedative into their deserts. The victims, at the Church for a luncheon, complained of light-headedness and were taken by rescue crews to area hospitals.

Sports

LDS Diver Routson Faces Olympic Trials This Week LDS Diver Tyce Routson believes he has a shot at the Olympics and will try to get it during this week's Olympic Trials in Federal Way, Washington. Routson, 23, is a returned missionary and High diver from Orange County who is a student at the University of Miami in Florida.

Former YMMIA General Board Member, BYU Athletic Director Millet Dies Former YMMIA General Board member, BYU Coach and Athletic Director W. Floyd Millet died Saturday, June 17th at the age of 88. Millett was best known for taking the BYU basketball team to Madison Square Garden for the first time, and for coaching the BYU football team to its first win over the University of Utah.

People

Founder of Southern California Mormon Choir Dies The founding conductor of the Southern California Mormon Choir, H. Frederick Davis, died Tuesday, June 13th at his home in North Hollywood, California. Davis was the conductor of the Choir for 28 years and of the Ellis-Orpheus Men's Chorus. Davis was 91.

Arts & Entertainment

American Prophet Wins IPPY Award "American Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith," by Heidi S. Swinton, won an IPPY from the 2000 Independent Publisher Book Awards at BookExpo America in Chicago recently. Swinton's book, which was a companion volume to the PBS documentary by the same title, won in the Biography category. Parables, written by Robert L. Millet and illustrated by James C. Christensen, received recognition as a finalist in the Religion category. Both books are published under the Shadow Mountain imprint, a general trade imprint of Deseret Book Company.

Business

LDS Church's Bonneville Communications Swaps LA Station for 4 in St. Louis The LDS Church's broadcast arm Bonneville Communications has signed a letter of intent to swap its Los Angeles radio station KZLA-FM to Emmis Communications for four stations in St. Louis, Missouri. The deal leaves Bonneville without a station in Los Angeles, the nation's #2 radio market, but gives it four stations in St. Louis, considered a top twenty radio market.

LDS Entrepreneur's Company To Go Public Next Month LDS entrepreneur David Huber's company, Corvis Corp., is expected to go public next month, in one of the most anticipated IPOs of the summer. Recent company filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission say that the company will offer 27.5 million shares for between $13 and $15 a share, valuing the company at more than $4 billion.

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