General News

Palmyra Becomes A Mormon Mecca While Palmyra, New York hasn't seen the influx of Mormon residents that Nauvoo, Illinois has seen, the town has become a major Mormon tourist destination, drawing thousands of visitors to see its historical sites and long-running pageant. Today's New York Times looks at Palmyra's transformation in an article titled "Tourist Chapter to the Book of Mormon." The article looks at the effect this tourism has had on the town, and the LDS Church's history in the area.

Local News

Family Breaks Into Closed Jordan River Temple TV news reports in Utah say that today a family forced their way into the LDS Church's Jordan River Temple, which is closed for the holidays, leading to an altercation with police. The family, including children ranging in age from infant to eight years old, was discovered on a third floor room, attempting to pray.

Sports

SLOC Turns Down Scout Volunteers Scout officials at the Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts were confused when they learned that Scout volunteers would not be welcome for the 2002 Winter Olympic games. The officials have worked with the committee under the assumption that Scouts could volunteer, as they did at the Atlanta games, and were surprised when the SLOC made its decision known and refused to talk with the Scouts about it.

Politics

Huntsman Says Demos More Supportive Saying he will support whatever political party will provide more cancer funding, LDS billionaire Jon Huntsman told the Deseret News in an article published Sunday that Democrats seem to be more sensitive to the issue. Huntsman's comments came despite a life-long commitment to the Republican party and its principles. He says he has become a "one-issue man."

People

LDS Fire Department Chaplain Sees Ventura Tragedies Six years ago Larry Modugno, 56, a deacon at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Camarillo, started the Ventura County Fire Department's Chaplaincy program, providing chaplains to help survivors of tragedy deal with grief and serve as spiritual advisors at these difficult times. One of the chaplains in the program is LDS Church member Tom Wheeler of Moorpark, California.

Arts & Entertainment

'Accidental Tenor' Sings de Azevedo's 'Gloria' George Dyer will perform in Lex de Azevedo's "Gloria: The Life of Christ" and be featured in the role of Gabriel. Dyer, sometimes known as the "Accidental Tenor," grew up in Virginia among a family of music lovers, but Dyer steadfastly resisted his first voice teacher's suggestion that his talents were in opera.

Business

New Provo School Video Policy Puts Entrepreneur's Business At Risk Provo High School alumnus Ryan Clark may be out of the movie business after the school board decided to ban R-rated films on campus. Family Flicks, Clarke's brainchild, shows edited versions of hit screen movies. Violence profanity and nudity are removed. It seemed like a good idea until last week when the Provo School Board approved a video policy that prohibits showing any clip from an R-rated movie, edited or not. Clark had been renting school space to show the films.

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