General News

Boston Temple Opponents Lose Last Appeal The U.S. Supreme Court turned down without comment the request from opponents of the LDS Church's Boston Temple to hear their challenge to a Massachusetts zoning law. The Court's move upheld the ruling of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the law, which the town of Belmont used to allow construction of the Temple. The ruling resolves one of two outstanding challenges to the completion of the Temple.

Dallas Missionary Recovering From Skull Fractures, Internal Bleeding Elder Burke Jensen's condition has been upgraded to fair and he has been moved out of intensive care, reports Wendy Walker, a spokeswoman for Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. Elder Jensen was robbed and badly beaten with a baseball bat last Tuesday when he and his companion were mugged in a Dallas neighborhood. And doctors are pleased with his recovery.

Local News

Five Charged in Gruesome Murder of LDS Man Five suspects have been charged with various crimes in the January 2nd murder of Antony Frank Buccellato, an LDS Church member and BYU graduate, in what police have called a crime of opportunity. Buccellato was robbed and beaten, rolled in a carpet and dumped on California's highway 4, where his body was hit by several cars.

LDS Church Closes Both Temple Square Visitors Centers for Renovation In preparation for the upcoming 2002 Winter Olympics, the LDS Church has closed both Visitors Centers on Temple Square for renovations. The centers should reopen before October's General Conference, according to the renovation plan.

Sports

BYU Hoops Star Wesley Climbs Back From Own Mistake Meleki Wesley has climbed back from a difficult error, and is now demonstrating not only his talent, but the maturity he had learned from the climb back. His error was a difficult one for someone in an LDS community: his girlfriend became pregnant with his son just as his BYU basketball career was picking up steam. But while the climb back to the team and to the same high level of performance was difficult, Wesley says it made him a better person.

Politics

Utah Files Lawsuit Over LDS Missionary Census Exclusion The Utah Attorney General's office filed a lawsuit in US District Court Wednesday morning, alleging that the US Census Bureau discriminated against LDS missionaries in the 2000 census. According to the complaint and to Bureau statements, the Bureau excluded LDS missionaries and other US citizens living abroad in its count while including overseas Federal employees such as diplomats and military personnel. As a result of this "disparate treatment," North Carolina was apportioned an additional seat in the US Congress that would have otherwise gone to Utah.

People

Mormon Man's Peyote Case Gets National Attention James Warren Mooney could face life in prison after being charged with dozens of counts of drug trafficking and one count of racketeering. "Flaming Eagle", as Mooney is known, was arrested on October 10, after his home was raided and sheriff's police seized a ceremonial pipe, a computer and 33 pounds of peyote, a hallucinogen drug that is illegal in Utah and 27 other states.

Story of Mormon Marine Who Smuggled Princess to US to be NBC Movie "The Princess &the Marine," set to air on NBC in February, is the unlikely love story of a an LDS serviceman and a member of the royal family of Bahrain. This made for Hollywood real-life story took place when Jason Johnson and Meriam Al-Khalifa fell in love, crossing religious and international boundries that made headline news.

Arts & Entertainment

How Can You Know So Much And Not Believe?: Jan Shipps and Mormonism Jan Shipps has spent 40 years studying Mormon culture and history, writing many articles and three books about Mormonism. Along with a review of her most recent book, "Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years Among the Mormons," the Deseret News' Dennis Lythgoe also looks at Shipps and her influence on Mormonism.

Business

Tribune-Media News Agreement Freezes Status Quo At the request of US District Judge Tena Campbell, the Salt Lake Tribune Co., manager of the newspaper, and MediaNews Group, the newspaper's new owner, have reached an agreement to freeze the status of the Newspaper Agency Corp., the company that runs the business and distribution functions of both the Tribune and the Deseret News. The agreement keeps MediaNews Group from making 'significant' changes to the Newspaper Agency Corp. (NAC) until a hearing in February, when Judge Campbell will hear the case.

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