July 2006

Church leader cautions against Web networking (7-31)
A Mormon church leader has warned his congregation about using the Internet for social networking.

Arson blamed in church fire (7-30)
Police said arson was the cause of a fire that charred a historic church on Springville's Main Street late Friday night.

Jerusalem Center program won't be resumed in fall after all (7-29)
The same day Hezbollah fired a new rocket that reached deeper into Israel than previous strikes in the 18-day conflict, Brigham Young University announced Friday it would not resume student programs at its Jerusalem Center this fall.

Federal court lets LDS couple remain in U.S. (7-29)
A federal appeals court has reversed a decision that would have sent a Mormon couple back home to Colombia, where they say they were threatened because of their religious and political activity.

BYU won't send students to Jerusalem Center (7-28)
Renewed violence in and around Israel led Brigham Young University to announce Friday morning that it will not send students to its Jerusalem Center this fall.

Gregerson sites spun Web of lies (7-28)
Craig Roger Gregerson, who is accused of killing Destiny Norton, spun a web of lies on the Internet posting profiles on at least two online dating sites, characterizing himself as an orphaned single man who doesn't want children and has a lot to say.

LDS Church responds to U.N. appeal for aid (7-28)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Thursday it is responding to a U.N. appeal for humanitarian aid to help civilians caught in the conflict between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon and Israel.

'The Mormons' is big at PBS (7-27)
How big a deal is "The Mormons" to PBS? The two-part, three-hour documentary scheduled to air next April will mark the first-ever collaboration between two of public broadcasting's big guns--the award-winning series "Frontline" and "American Experience."

LDS pioneers, Great Basin get 'heritage areas' (7-26)
Appropriately for Pioneer Day in Utah, Congress gave final approval on Monday to forming two new "national heritage areas" designed at least in part to honor Mormon pioneers and the architecture and culture they created.

Digital effort preserving names of LDS pioneers (7-26)
The history of Latter-day Saint pioneers who died on the trek to Utah could have been lost forever without their diaries.

Sunrise speaker extols faith of pioneers (7-25)
The Assembly Hall on Temple Square was nearly filled Monday morning as people gathered for the Days of '47 Sunrise Service, a kickoff for the day's Pioneer Day celebrations.

Smithsonian alters text offensive to LDS (7-25)
Complaints from members of Utah's congressional delegation that a Smithsonian Museum exhibit displayed Mormon church founders in a negative light may have prompted a change to the exhibit.

Track daily progress of handcart pioneers (7-24)
This year's LDS Church focus on the 150th anniversary of the handcart pioneers' trek across the Great Plains to Utah is being celebrated online through a virtual history project at Brigham Young University that tracks the daily events of the Willie Handcart Company.

Odometer tallied the progress of pioneer wagons (7-23)
A legend about the man who kept records in the first Mormon pioneer company says William Clayton was such a stickler for detail that he tied a red bandanna to a wagon wheel and painstakingly counted how many times it went around to measure the trek's progress.

Copies of historic map on sale (7-23)
Just in time for Pioneer Day, a New York City company is marketing high-quality reproductions of a map that Brigham Young used in the historic trek west.

Descendants to honor rider in Pony Express (7-23)
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the 1856 rescue of the Martin and Willie pioneer handcart companies on the plains of Wyoming.

Why high antidepressant use in Utah? (7-22)
The LDS Church shouldn't be blamed for Utah's reputation as the runaway leader in antidepressant use, says a Brigham Young University professor.

LDS project to retain Woolen Mills (7-21)
Utah Woolen Mills will remain at its current South Temple location, and another piece has fallen into place in the shape-shifting puzzle called the LDS Church's downtown Salt Lake redevelopment project.

LDS Jerusalem Center offers refuge to members in Israel (7-21)
Brigham Young University has invited members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in northern Israel to take refuge in the school's Jerusalem Center.

Spiritual sounds of EFY? How about rap? (7-19)
Teenagers expecting to be spiritually uplifted by the latest LDS music release may be in for a surprise when they hear beatbox ballads instead.

Five billion names--at the click of a mouse (7-17)
After nearly a decade of research, more than 5 billion searchable names are now available at the click of a mouse, thanks to a Provo-based company's efforts to digitize the U.S. Census.

Bilingual singer 'great' in many music genres (7-16)
Rebecca Lopez has learned early one of life's important lessons: What doesn't happen to you can be as defining as what does.

'100 eyes for eye' in Mideast battle (7-15)
When Ibrahim Karawan learned Israel had struck back at Hezbollah militants in Lebanon this week, he knew the battle would not be short-lived. He also knew the situation could quickly escalate, threatening to tip larger powers like Iran and Syria into the conflict.

Deseret Book severs relationship with Seagull (7-13)
Deseret Book confirmed Wednesday that it will no longer sell any of its products to retailer Seagull Book & Tape, citing disagreements about how Seagull handled and promoted Deseret Book merchandise.

Party honors Huntsmans for anti-cancer crusade (7-13)
The Huntsman Cancer Hospital got a $2 million shot in the arm Wednesday night during a surprise birthday/anniversary party honoring the hospital's namesake and numerous donors who have contributed additional funding in recent months.

Business College moves a few blocks (7-11)
The walls in Stephen Woodhouse's office were bare for the first time in 43 years Monday as the LDS Business College president sat amid stacks of boxes and empty halls.

America's forgotten war: LDS raiders kept Army at bay in 1857-58 (7-9)
John Eldredge's smile shows he loves this. Technically, he is leading a Jeep caravan into the wilds of western Wyoming, but it is more like the expedition has traveled back in time, to when Utah changed forever as the territory became the stage for what could be called America's first civil war.

CleanFlicks plans to appeal ruling (7-9)
Edited-movie distributor CleanFlicks plans to appeal Monday the decision of a federal court judge who has ruled that production of "sanitized" movies violates federal copyright law and hurts the Hollywood directors and studios who own the movie rights.

Pioneer myths--unmasked (7-9)
It's pioneer month in Utah, time once again to salute the Mormon settlers who 159 years ago made the unprecedented decision to not keep going to California.

Temple Square is still top tourist draw in Utah (7-9)
Travel brochures can boast about breathtaking Zion, Bryce and Arches national parks. Tourism promoters can roar about Dinosaur National Monument and hawk the state's high peaks.

Jerusalem Center deadline is today (7-7)
Today is the deadline for applications to spend fall semester at Brigham Young University's Jerusalem Center--the first time students will be back at the facility since political unrest forced the school to suspend programs in 2001.

Latter-day Complaints (7-6)
Mormons and evangelicals fret over movies, politics, and each other.

South Africa attack puts safety on Utahns' minds (7-6)
Madison Phillips wasn't shaken when she heard that two sister missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been attacked and raped Friday in South Africa.

Murder charge in slaying of missionary (7-6)
A grand jury Wednesday indicted a Chesapeake man on first-degree murder charges in the slaying of a Mormon missionary and the malicious wounding of another.

4 men are arrested in missionary attacks (7-5)
Police in South Africa have arrested four men in connection with the rape of two female missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the missionaries was also shot, an LDS Church official said late Monday.

U.S. voters may resist an LDS candidate (7-3)
Religion hasn't been an issue in American presidential politics since 1960. That may change in 2008 if Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney remains a leading candidate for the Republican nomination.