General News

LDS Church Entwined In Struggle For Scouting On April 26th the Supreme Court met to determine the constitutional rights of the Boy Scouts of America. The case on the docket was Number 99-699, the Boy Scouts of America vs. James Dale. In a courtroom filled with law students, gay activists and television crews, Supreme Court Justice David Souter argued that the Boy Scout Handbook does not spell out any policy banning gays. Yet, Boy Scout supporters base their explanation on the Scout Oath declaring that scouts should be "morally straight."

LDS Church Supports Nebraska Anti-Gay Union Amendment Supporters of an amendment to the Nebraska State Constitution banning same-sex marriages delivered 12 boxes of petitions, containing 155,000 to 157,000 names, to the Nebraska Secretary of State on Friday, seeking to meet the requirements to place the proposed amendment on November's ballot. If the amendment passes in November, it could make Nebraska the 34th US state to enact a same-sex marriage ban.

Deseret News Profiles Mitt Romney The Deseret News' Elaine Jarvik gives a long and interesting profile of Salt Lake Organizing Committee President Mitt Romney, the LDS Church member who moved to Salt Lake from Boston to save the 2002 Winter Olympics in the wake of a bribery scandal. The profile shows how Romney, perpetually aware of those around him, is able to diarm the press and lead the committee in preparing for the Olympics.

Local News

LDS Bishop Charged with Failing to Report Abuse Another LDS Bishop has been charged with failing to report an incident of child sexual abuse. On Friday, Salt Lake City prosecutors charged LDS Bishop Bruce R. Christensen, 60, of the Salt Lake City 21st Ward with a class B misdemeanor after learning that Christensen had been told of a case of child abuse by the victim's mother and failed to report it. The mother told Christensen in a July 1999 interview that her estranged husband had sexually abused their 13-month-old daughter.

Name Change to BYU-Idaho Not Immediate Perhaps the most frequently asked question since the announcement by LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley June 21 has been: "When do we begin using the name Brigham Young University-Idaho?" For the time being, we will continue as Ricks College. We will not begin using the name Brigham Young University-Idaho in the immediate future.

Sports

LDS Player Makes Baseball's All-Star Teams The voting is complete and San Francisco Giants second baseman and LDS Church member Jeff Kent has passed Houston's Craig Biggio and the New York Mets' Edgardo Alfonzo to win the starting spot on the National League's team in baseball's All-Star Game. Kent's performance so far this year, including his league-leading 80 RBIs, influenced fans to vote for him, moving him up from third place in the final week of the poll.

Dale Murphy Ends Mission, Returns to Atlanta For All-Star Game The very best part of Atlanta's baseball past is back in town. But it will only be for a few days, when Dale Murphy returns to Atlanta, Georgia to serve as honorary captain of the National League All-Star baseball team. "Gosh, I'm honored," he replies. Murphy will ultimately be returning to his home in Alpine, Utah after spending three years in Massachusetts, where he served as the president of the Boston Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

People

BYU Requires Letter of Explanation from Julie BYU Student Julie Stoffer, who appears in the current season of MTV's "The Real World," is writing a letter to BYU at its request, detailing "when were boys in my bedroom, till what time, what went on." The letter will help BYU determine whether Julie can return to BYU in the Fall.

LDS Mission Influenced Late LDS Civil Rights Pioneer His experiences as an LDS missionary shaped the future for a man who became a Utah pioneer for civil rights. 72 year old Adam "Mickey" Duncan passed away in May of this year.

Arts & Entertainment

Mormons flock to area for pageant The 63rd Hill Cumorah Pageant opened July 7th with its depiction of 10 scenes outlining the story of the Book of Mormon and its translation. And the show may see record crowds this year because of the opening of the Palmyra Temple.

Business

Mormon News Introduces Stock Index Mormon News introduces today a new feature, its index of publicly-traded stocks that have Mormon management. The index, which includes 18 stocks, is an attempt to see how well companies run by Mormon businessmen perform in the markets.

Willes Makes $64.5 Million on Leaving Times-Mirror LDS Church member Mark H. Willes, nephew of LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, topped the Los Angeles Times' list of highest-paid Southern California executives. Willes earned $64.5 million from Times-Mirror for this year, in spite of being forced to resign amid the Tribune Company's purchase of Times-Mirror.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]