General News

Accident Put Missionary in Coma

The missionary hit by a teen driver while riding a bicycle Monday was knocked unconscious in the accident and remained in a coma at LDS Hospital late Tuesday, according to a report this morning in the Salt Lake Tribune. LDS Hospital spokesman Jess Gomez called his injuries critical, saying, "We're taking it day by day, hour by hour."

Local News

Mormon Volunteers Help Save St. Paul from Floods

The swollen rivers in Minnesota made yesterday anything but a typical Sunday. Both Mormon and Jewish groups were among those that produced 140 volunteers to fill an estimated 20,000 sand bags to save an Army National Guard helicopter hanger and headquarters building from the rising Mississippi.

BYU Jerusalem Center Cancels Classes Again

BYU has decide that the risks in Israel remain too large and has cancelled classes at its Jerusalem center for the Spring term. The cancellation marks the second consecutive term that classes will not be held in the center and follows a Fall semester cut short by the violence in the Middle East.

Sports

LDS Tight End Will Turn Pro Early, May Be Selected in First Round

Todd Heap is the kind of guy who can make waves wherever he goes. Whether he's cliff-diving 75 feet into a pool of water or jumping into the NFL draft, you know he's going to make a splash. A resident of Arizona, Heap is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is widely recognized as one of the top prospects in the upcoming NFL draft. Along with North Carolina tight end Alge Crumpler, Heap is expected to be selected near the end of the first round or early in the second round.

RM Working Toward the Majors

Gary Johnson is spending the summer playing Double-A ball in Little Rock, Arkansas. While grateful for the opportunity to home his baseball skills, Johnson really wishes he was someplace else, namely Salt Lake City. Johnson, a returned missionary and an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, would love to have a chance to play ball in Utah for the Anaheim Angels' new AAA farm club, the Stingers.

Politics

Census Lawsuit Loses on Appeal

The judicial panel created to hear Utah's challenge to the 2001 census turned down the challenge yesterday, leaving Utah with only the possibility of an appeal to the US Supreme Court. The three judge panel rejected all of Utah's claims, relying heavily on a previous Supreme Court decision, Franklin vs. Massachusetts, which allowed the Census Bureau to include overseas federal employees and exclude others overseas in the census.

LDS Mother of Three is Mesa's Top Cop

Take the stereotype; the stern,distant man with a military demeanor directing patrolmen to each crisis; and throw it out the window, at least in Mesa, Arizona. The Chief of Police in this historically Mormon suburb of Phoenix is LDS Church member Jan Strauss, a divorced mother of three with 26 years of law enforcement experience. Strauss told the Arizona Republic Sunday that her faith helps her in her job.

Internet

Demand for LDS-Compliled Data Swamps Ellis Island Site

The 22 million record database compiled by 12,000 LDS volunteers is in such demand that the website was all but unavailable its first day. News reports claim that an estimated 10 million people tried to access the site, located at http://www.ellisislandrecords.org and by mid-day Wednesday, it was serving a page with a message that read, "Due to unprecedented demand we are limiting the number of users to our site. Please visit us again in a few days." The demand was reminiscent of the launch of the LDS Church's FamilySearch.org, which was also swamped on its first day, May 24, 1999.

People

LDS Bombing Victim's Family Remembers, Awaits Execution

Six years after a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, taking with it the lives of 168 people, the family of LDS Church member Paul Broxterman remembers their son, brother, husband and father and waits for the expected execution of terrorist Timothy McVeigh. Broxterman has been one of the most visible victims, thanks to his murder's inclusion as one of the counts in the case against McVeigh and his mother's widely-publicized comments on and during the trial. While the execution won't alleviate the family's loss, it will give them closure and a sense of justice.

Arts & Entertainment

Osmond is Doing It All Over Again

Donny Osmond is trekking over Europe promoting his new album and bringing back memories of a 13-year-old star with a mega-watt smile. "It will never be that way again," the 43-year-old singer said with relief, "I wouldn't want it to be, I don't want to be acting like I am 13 again. I will never be able to create that level of hype and hysteria, it's about the music now."

Prophet Joseph Smith Subject of Next Richard Dutcher Film

In a press conference earlier today, filmmaker Richard Dutcher announced that the subject of his next film will be the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. With a working title of THE PROPHET: The Story of Joseph Smith, Jr., this will be Dutcher's first big- budget film, with a projected budget of $10 million. Funding for the film is still being arranged.

Business

Boston Businessman Creates New Kind of Theater

Boston Massachusetts is an artsy town, well-known for its many cultural attractions and the sophisticated nature of its audiences. Thanks to the efforts of a man raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Boston's reputation as a Mecca for the arts is about to take yet another bold step forward.

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