General News

Salon Looks At Religion, Mormon Missionaries The online magazine Salon launched a series of articles yesterday on religion in the US, and started its coverage by looking at LDS missionaries serving in Prague. The result is an entertaining look at missionary work in a foreign country and at the potential for religion in the US.

Uruguay Temple Dedication Postponed, Two Brazil Temple Dedications Set For December A series of general strikes in Uruguay has led the LDS Church to postpone the open house and dedication of the new Montevideo Uruguay Temple, the LDS Church announced today. The strike has led to construction delays that will keep the Temple from being completed on time. The Church also announced the open house and dedication dates for the two new Brazilian temples, in Recife and in Porto Allegre.

Local News

Teen Sentenced In Tragic Taber, Alberta High School Shootings The teen who shot two students, killing one, eight days after the 1999 Columbine tragedy, plead guilty Friday to one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, and was sentenced to three years in prison, on top of the 18 months he has already served. The sentence closes the tragic Taber, Alberta case, which struck this heavily Mormon town over a year ago.

Sports

BYU Honors Edwards With Stadium Name For BYU coach LaVell Edwards it could not have been a better day. The Cougars thrashed New Mexico 37-13, BYU President Merrill Bateman announced that the University would spend $60 million on a new athletic center long sought by the department, and LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley surprised everyone by naming BYU's stadium after the retiring Edwards. On, and there were fireworks after the game.

Mormon Kent Named Baseball MVP With the baseball season ended and the World Series a fading memory, the votes of baseball sportswriters have been counted, giving LDS Church member Jeff Kent the Most Valuable Player award for the National League. Kent is a 9-year veteran second baseman for the San Francisco Giants. He had a fantastic season, batting .334 and hitting 33 home runs and earning a major league record for the most RBIs by a second baseman over a four-year period. He also became popular enough to be voted on the National League's all-star team.

Politics

While Republican Are Weaker, Hatch May Have Larger Role Regardless of how the presidential race is resolved, the US Republican party will be weaker in the US Senate because of its slim majority. At best, Republicans will have a 2 seat margin with which to run the Senate. But even in this closely-divided situation, Utah Republican Orrin Hatch, an LDS Church member, will likely wield significant power, and may have a crucial role.

Internet

Mormon Website Criticized For Copyright Violations An LDS-oriented website is flirting with copyright violations that may cause it legal trouble, and seriously jeopardize its existence because the violations seem to make up the majority of the website. All About Mormons (http://www.mormons.org/ may be the LDS-oriented website most at risk for copyright violations, and industry sources are betting that the site will eventually be required to remove the violating material.

People

LDS Families Adopt Teens, Give Thanks Preteens and Teenagers are the hardest to place in adoptive homes, but two LDS families stepped in to adopt a brother and sister from a troubled neighbor family when they saw the need. Marlene Peterson saw that two former neighbor children, Don and Anna, were increasingly the victims of their mother's alcoholism, and decided to act.

Arts & Entertainment

MoTab To Tour Southern US The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will tour the southern US next June, giving concerts in eight cities from June 15 to 27th. The concert series, announced Saturday, is intended to bring the message that the LDS Church is a Christian church to an area that widely believes otherwise.

Business

SEC Says Scam Artists Target Mormons The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Salt Lake City office says that the Olympic bribery scandal is only the latest scandal in a state with a history of scandals. And, says Kenneth Israel, who heads the Salt Lake office, its because the scams target Mormons.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]