Mormon Big Business
Las Vegas water agency to use
Mormon church water rights
Associated Press
March 27, 2006
LAS VEGAS The water agency serving Las Vegas says it's struck a seven-point-two (M) Million dollar deal to use water rights the Mormon church owns at a ranch in southern Nevada.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority says the 20-year lease with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will let Las Vegas draw about two-thousand acre-feet per year from the flow of the Muddy River -- or enough to serve some about four-thousand homes. There's an option to extend the deal for up to 20 additional years.
The church got the water rights when it bought Warm Springs Ranch in 1978. The land about 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas was once owned by Howard Hughes.
The authority intends to draw the water from Lake Mead so it'll have to get approval from the federal Interior Department.
The Salt Lake City-based church isn't commenting on the deal. But a church spokeswoman says the church has lots of ranches and farms.
August 18, 2006
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Mormon church says groundwater should not be pumped from Nevada's Spring Valley area to Las Vegas until it is determined that will not harm the church and other water-rights holders.
Church attorneys have asked the Nevada state engineer to delay awarding a permit to the Southern Nevada Water Authority until a U.S. Geological Survey study of the region's groundwater resources is completed next year.
The plan is part of the water authority's larger "Clark, Lincoln and White Pine Counties Groundwater Development Project," which would pipe about 200,000 acre-feet of water per year from seven hydrologic basins, including Spring Valley, with most going to the Las Vegas area.
Another piece of the project is in Snake Valley, which straddles the Utah border.
Ranchers on both sides of the Utah-Nevada line and environmental groups have opposed the project, fearing it will dry up water tables and destroy the area's ecosystem and ranching industry.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns the Cleveland-Rogers Ranch in White Pine County.
The church "does not object to the proposed development of water to the extent that the hydrological information available ... shows a reasonable likelihood that there is unappropriated water available for such a development," church attorney Bruce Findlay wrote in an Aug. 4 letter to Nevada engineer Tracy Taylor.
However, he said the church has concerns about the impact on other water-rights holders "if the sources proposed for the development will draw upon sources that are already appropriated."
Findlay said several areas identified by the Southern Nevada Water Authority for diversion are near the water sources of the Cleveland-Rogers Ranch, potentially raising concerns about interference with the ranch's senior rights to the water.
While the church is asking for a slowdown of approval for the project, Utah and Nevada officials have been moving ahead to finalize a water sharing agreement that would cover the large aquifer that sits under the state line.
The two states are conducting groundwater testing in the area. But the agreement would precede both the USGS study and an ongoing environmental impact study being done by the Bureau of Land Management.
Last month, Pat Mulroy, general manager of the water authority, said the USGS study will not settle the question of how much water sits below the Snake Valley, or how taking 25,000 acre-feet a year out will impact the resource.
She said the only way to determine that is to start withdrawing water and make adjustments as impacts present themselves.
The 4,000-acre Cleveland-Rogers Ranch is part of the church's Welfare Services Department. The church said it provides assistance to the poor through growing crops and raising cattle that are used to provide food for the needy.
The church's Corporation of the Presiding Bishop owns surface and groundwater rights in the Spring Valley area for watering about 1,500 cows and calves.
The Nevada state engineer's office said a hearing on the project will be held Sept. 11 in Carson City.
By Gordon Fraser
CNHI News Service
KINGSTON, N.H.— The Mormon
church has expressed interest in purchasing the 125-acre Lone Tree Reservation
Boy Scout Camp for $2.9 million, a move that would allow the church to establish
a permanent girls camp at the location.
“The Mormon church has made it very clear that they intend to buy a property in
Southern New Hampshire for a girls camp,” said Randy Larson, an executive for
the Yankee Clipper Council, the Boy Scout organization that owns the camp.
The proposal, which is not yet a formal offer, would allow Boy Scouts to use the
camp for two weeks each summer and on weekends throughout the year.
Larson said the Yankee Clipper Council has received offers to purchase its
properties in the recent past, although it has not pursued them. The council
owns three camps — in Raymond, Northwood and Kingston — and two office buildings
in Massachusetts, one in Haverhill and one in Middleton.
While Larson said the council does not face undue financial pressure to sell the
property — the organization has had a balanced budget for the past two years —
he did say that many nonprofit organizations have found it increasingly
difficult to meet budgetary needs.
“Finances are tight. It’s tough out there right now,” he said. “It’s not easy
right now for organizations, or businesses for that matter.”
Beyond that, he said, the offer of $2.9 million is reasonable for the property
in question.
In a recent press release, the Yankee Clipper Council wrote that the price was
“the highest and best use appraised value for the property, according to an
independent appraisal authorized by (the council) and conducted earlier this
year.”
Larson said the inquiry, and the $2.9 million figure, came directly from the
Mormon church’s central office in Salt Lake City.
The church, known formally as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
is a major supporter of the Boy Scouts of America at the national level. In
December 2005, nearly 400,000 of the 2.9 million youths enrolled in Boy Scouts,
or about 13.5 percent, were members of the Mormon church, according to
information provided by the church.
And the relationship between the two organizations dates back to 1911, only a
year after Boy Scouts of America was formed, according to church documents.
The Mormon church has 8,088 members in New Hampshire, spread throughout 19
congregations, according to the church.
In Kingston, Larson said, the church rents the Lone Tree camp periodically for
the church’s girls camping programs.
“The Mormon church has rented it from us,” he said. “That’s probably one reason
why they’ve inquired (about the property).”
The Yankee Clipper Council — with its 8,600 children and 4,000 adult leaders in
52 Massachusetts and New Hampshire communities — isn’t the only nonprofit
organization to consider selling properties in recent years.
The Spar and Spindle Council Inc., a Girl Scouts of America group based in North
Andover, Mass., is in the process of selling 10 house lots from a 300-acre camp
in Pelham to a real estate developer.
“It’s just a hard time for not-for-profits,” said Judy Wise, Spar and Spindle’s
chief executive officer. “I think the economy is a big piece of it. Donations
are slim for us.”
Wise’s organization owns five camps, as well as one office building. She said
she hopes the sale of the 10 house lots — each roughly one acre in size — will
allow Spar and Spindle to maintain the rest of its properties for some time to
come.
But the decision to move forward with the sale was a difficult one, she said.
“It’s not something that you do lightly,” Wise said. “It’s not something that
you want to do, but sometimes it’s in the best interests of your organization.”
The YWCA of Newburyport, Mass., is in the process of selling its camp in
Kingston, called Blue Triangle, according to YWCA staff member Rebecca Berard.
Larson said a decision to sell could prove to be a difficult one.
“Camp sales are not uncommon, (but) they’re always emotional,” he said.
The Yankee Clipper Council has formed an ad hoc committee to study the possible
sale of the camp, and Larson said the members are welcoming comments and
suggestions from members of the public and the Boy Scout community.
Whatever the Boy Scout group decides to do, financial considerations will play a
key role in the decision, Larson said.
“We have to watch every dollar. The ninth point of the Scout law is thrifty,” he
said.
Federal agency sues U. of Phoenix for alleged Mormon bias
The U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission has filed suit accusing the University of Phoenix of
discriminating against non-Mormon employees.
The legal action, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, alleges
the employment conditions at the private college were less favorable for these
workers in regard to enrollment leads, tuition waiver grants and reprimands. In
addition, three non-LDS employees in Arizona were transferred and one was fired
in retaliation for complaining, according to the suit.
The lawsuit is seeking an injunction barring the university from
discriminating based on religion and from retaliating based on complaints about
unlawful practices; the institution of policies to provide equal employment
opportunities for non-members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints; a written apology; financial compensation and reinstatement for the
affected employees; and unspecified punitive damages.
The EEOC also is asking Judge Earl Carroll to declare its suit a class
action.
University spokesman Joe Cockrell said the school has not yet been served
with the suit so he cannot comment on the specifics.
"We employ over 15,000 people and we have always been guided by the
principle of equal opportunity and respect for others," he said.
"We are committed to the principles of tolerance and respect, fair treatment, equal access and consideration, and recognition for contributions. We maintain a strict anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy and take a zero-tolerance stance on these issues." The university, part of the Phoenix-based Apollo Group, caters to working adults. According to its Web site, the school has more than 200,000 students enrolled on campuses and online. The Utah campuses are in Salt Lake City, Taylorsville, Murray, Ogden, Provo and St. George.
Court says LDS Church must release long-veiled financial information
'Home teacher' molestation case
The Associated Press
07/12/2007
PORTLAND, Ore.
-- The Oregon Supreme Court rejected an effort by the Mormon church to withhold
financial information from the lawyers for a man who claims a "home teacher"
frequently molested him about 20 years ago.
Despite the legal defeat, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
did not immediately release the detailed financial information about its net
worth, The Oregonian newspaper reported.
Kelly Clark, an attorney for the Oregon man suing the church, said it would
be good for a jury to have the information before considering his request for
$45 million in punitive damages. A trial is scheduled for Aug. 6.
"A jury needs to know the entire financial context to know whether a
punitive award is too much or sufficient or not enough," Clark said.
The LDS church sought emergency relief from a trial court order to turn over
the financial information, but the Oregon Supreme Court late Monday rejected the
appeal. The pretrial decision was reached on narrow pretrial grounds and doesn't
mean the court would not ultimately side with the church's position that the
Constitution protects its right to keep financial information private.
"The church is considering its position," Stephen F. English, the LDS
church's lead Portland attorney, told the newspaper. "The church respects the
rule of law but has profound constitutional concerns based on its constitutional
right to protect the free expression of its religion."
The LDS church has not released financial information since 1959.
"It's the secret of secrets," said Timothy N. Kosnoff, a Seattle attorney
who sought the information in 2001 on behalf of a former Oregon man who claimed
he was sexually abused by an LDS Sunday school teacher.
Kosnoff never got the information because the church agreed to pay his
client $3 million.
The latest bid to expose the church's net worth stems from a lawsuit filed
last year that accuses Kenneth I. Johnson Jr. of molesting a Beaverton youth as
often as twice a week in the late 1980s.
Johnson, who has denied the accusation, was the boy's home teacher, a
church-sanctioned lay official authorized to provide educational and religious
guidance, according to the suit.
English said Johnson was acting as a family friend, not a church official, and LDS church officials did not know about the alleged abuse while it was happening.
Mitt Romney -- Be Afraid Be Very Afraid
Contact: Rev. CJ Conner, 651-373-9137
MEDIA
ADVISORY, Jan. 11 /Christian
Newswire/ -- On December 12th, 2007, the very same day that Romney indicated
his support of the Federal ENDA legislation, news of his investment company's
buyout of Clear Channel Communications surfaced. Clear Channel owns Rush
Limbaugh's and Sean Hannity's contracts, and is the largest conservative radio
conglomerate in the country. It may be no small coincidence that conservative
talk show hosts lambasted Christian Mike Huckabee as a liberal just mere hours
before he took the Iowa Caucus.
Romney is no media novice. For years he has supported the Mormon media blitz of
television and radio spots that have slowly brainwashed so many of us into
believing that Mormons are Christians too. Today in the national political
debate, to ask questions about the Mormon "jesus" is labeled religious bigotry-
hate speech that must be silenced.
Romney is said to be worth at least a quarter of a billion dollars, and has
given every indication that he intends to buy the presidency, sparing no
expense. If voted into office, it would be the first time ever in American
history that a president would control so much wealth, as well as so much of the
media.
Christians in America need to begin asking questions.
Is it really the right thing for America to make a man as powerful and rich as
Romney president?
Is America in the position to take such a risk at such a crucial moment in our
history?
Are we really ready to turn our nation over to an untested man that has served
only one term as governor of liberal Massachusetts?
Can Romney really be trusted when he says he is opposed to abortion, does not
support gay marriage or civil unions, and is ready to solve our illegal
immigration crisis, even as he's waffled on all these issues?
Are we really so naďve to think that a man of such vast wealth did not build his
portfolio standing on the back of the working man?
Is it really wise to vote for a man when in our gut we know for certain that
something just isn't right about him?
Rev. C.J. Conner is the author of Jesus and the Culture Wars: Reclaiming the
Lord's Prayer.
Utah-made movie is at center of suit
Film's financier claims producers boosted the budget without his OK
By Sean P. Means
The Salt Lake Tribune
11/30/2007
The behind-the-scenes drama of
the Utah-made movie "Church Ball" may play out in a different court.
Utah financier Bryan Lampropoulos is suing Provo-based Halestorm
Entertainment, CEO David Hunter and other executives, for at least $6 million
dollars plus punitive damages - claiming Halestorm overspent in making the 2006
comedy and never repaid Lampropoulos for his investment.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 19 in Fourth Judicial District Court in Provo,
details how Lampropoulos created an investment firm, Joshua Bryan & Co., to
provide funds for two Halestorm movies, "The Home Teachers" and "Church Ball."
JB&C and Halestorm created a joint venture partnership, Three Rivers Movies LLC,
to finance and produce the films. (Three Rivers is also a defendant in the
lawsuit.)
The partnership went well with "The Home Teachers," the lawsuit says. The
2004 comedy was made for about $430,000, approximately within budget, and
marketing costs were on a par with Halestorm's previous Mormon-themed hits, "The
Singles Ward" and "The R.M." The movie even featured a cameo by Lampropoulos'
father, Merit Medical chairman and former Utah gubernatorial candidate Fred
Lampropoulos.
But the relationship soured during the making of "Church Ball." The lawsuit
alleges that Halestorm requested a bigger budget so the filmmakers could hire
recognizable actors, eventually pushing the production costs to $1.2 million.
The actors hired included comedian Fred Willard, character actor Clint Howard
(brother of Ron Howard), former child star Gary Coleman, and Andrew Wilson
(brother of Luke and Owen Wilson).
Bryan Lampropoulos never approved the larger budget in advance, the lawsuit
claims, but paid the extra money to keep the production from folding. The suit
also claims Halestorm ran up unnecessary expenses during filming of "Church
Ball," including motor homes for the actors, 24-hour catering and "buy[ing]
controlled substances for one or more of the actors."
Halestorm, the lawsuit alleges, also broke their agreement not to work on
other movies until "Church Ball" was completed. By releasing other Mormon-themed
movies, such as "Mobsters and Mormons" and "Sons of Provo," the suit reads,
Halestorm's executives "failed to use their 'best efforts' toward creating a
quality film and also diluted the Mormon movie genre."
According to the lawsuit, Lampropoulos' JB&C recovered about $450,000 back
from the ticket and DVD sales of "The Home Teachers," but nothing from "Church
Ball's" ticket sales, DVDs or spin-off products (including a "Church Ball" board
game). The suit also accuses Halestorm executives of forming companies to hide
the assets from "Church Ball."
Hunter did not return repeated calls for comment Friday.
Ponzi scheme ends in prison for Utah man
By JENNIFER DOBNER
06.13.08
SALT LAKE CITY - Associated Press
An Ogden man whose Mormon religion helped him win the trust of investors is going to prison for a fraud scheme that exceeded $140 million.
Val Southwick was sentenced Thursday to one year to 15 years in prison for each of the nine counts of securities fraud. The punishments are to be served consecutively.
It will be up to the Utah parole board to determine just how long Southwick, 63, is locked up. Third District Judge Robin Reese also ordered him to make full restitution.
The scheme is described as one of the largest Ponzi operations in Utah history, lasting more than 17 years and involving more than 800 people. Southwick promised huge returns on commercial real estate through his Ogden-based company, VesCor, or its 150 subsidiaries.
In a Ponzi scheme, money from investors is recycled to pay off other investors. Southwick said he's remorseful and "deeply saddened by my failure to make the investors whole."
Southwick used money to pay for a mortgage, massages, vacations, medical and legal expenses, a large collection of cars and church tithing. He stopped paying investors in 2006 and claims to have been working to recoup their losses ever since.
"Your honor, it was never my intention to hurt or cause harm to any investors," Southwick told the judge. "Maybe I was naive to think that somehow I could work through this difficult process and pay all investors back."
More than a dozen victims spoke in court, some on behalf of family members who had lost their life savings.
Among them was Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey, who urged the judge to keep Southwick out of prison.
Godfrey said Southwick wasn't an "evil man" and his incarceration could bump violent criminals from beds in Utah's overcrowded prison.
"Allow him to serve his time working to pay back investors," Godfrey said, drawing jeers from the packed courtroom.
Most said they wanted Southwick to serve the maximum prison term. They called him a predatory, selfish person who likely can't be reformed.
Many said the stress of losses had left them emotionally devastated and physically ill. Some said they were facing bankruptcy or home foreclosure.
"The whole thing is tragic," Melissa VanBlankenstein of Walnut, Calif., said after the hearing. "It's tragic for us and it's tragic for him, but he deserves to be punished."
VanBlakenstein is hopeful that she and her husband will recover nearly $200,000.
"I believe he has assets somewhere," she said of Southwick. "How could anybody lose that much money?"
Southwick is facing a civil lawsuit in federal court brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The court has appointed a receiver to identify assets that can be used to compensate victims.
On Saturday, auctioneers plan to sell the contents of VesCor's offices as a way to raise money for victims. Among the items boxed and tagged: four inscribed Spanish swords and a set of bronzed Book of Mormon Golden Plates bookends.
Southwick asked for 30 days to report to prison, but the judge immediately placed him in custody.