Mormons open house

This past Friday began the only public tours that will ever be permitted for the general public into the Bloomfield Hills, Detroit Mormon temple. This new 10,700 square-foot building is the 63rd temple of the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

LDS Mayor promotes Bible Week over ACLU opposition (Bible Week is a go, Gilbert mayor says)

LDS Church member Cynthia Dunham, Mayor of Gilbert, Arizona, is in a fight with the ACLU over her intention to name November 21-28 National Bible Week in the town. Last year Dunham made the same proclamation, as suggested and promoted by the non-denominational National Bible Association, only to be sued by two Gilbert residents with the assistance of the ACLU.

West Las Vegas group says Mormons favored (West Las Vegas group charges discrimination in school district)

Remember Independence, Missouri; when locals got edgy about a the Mormon voters? Well, that same mentality has hopped west a few states to Las Vegas, Nevada. A group called West Side Action Alliance Korp -- Uplifting People (WAAK-UP) is causing a stink in the Las Vegas school district because, among other gripes, there are too many Mormon's holding district positions.

Dead Sea Scrolls to be published on compact disk

BYU's Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (CPART) has prepared a CD-ROM database of the non-biblical texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which will be published in the middle of this month. The project represents years of work compiling the information.

Man charged in alleged child rape case

If the sordid details in this article are proven correct, a man who served as a janitor at an LDS Church in Everett Washington will stand convicted of multiple counts of raping children. Perhaps more than six children have been abused by the man over the past several years. Details (and you don't necessarily want to read them) are just beginning to filter in that show Matthew Stephen having earned himself a few millstones about his neck.

Socreds splitting apart

Alberta Canada's Social Credit party, a politically conservative group nicknamed the Socreds, is in a real uproar, and now has two leaders, with both saying the other is bogus. The Socreds haven't elected a candidate to the legislature for the last 20 years. This split surely makes things worse.

Former Manti Pageant director charged with sexual abuse (Ex-pageant director charged)

Ronald D. Hall, 68, of Fairview, Sanpete County, Utah, was charged last week with six counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, for incidents during the past five years. Three victims have come forward and claimed that Hall sexually abused them. Hall has denied the charges and was released on $10,000 bond.