» Part 1

=== Paganism / Witchcraft
13. Heather Miller gets prison for plot to murder

=== Satanism
14. Satanist gets 42 yrs. for arson

=== Hate Groups / Hate Crimes
15. Man denies he's guilty of rights violations
16. Notorious Kansas church leader taking anti-gay message to Maine
17. Lawyer Warned of Holocaust Revision
18. FBI raids former Klan leader David Duke's home
19. Klan seeks rally in heavily Jewish suburb

=== Rebirthing
20. 'Rebirth' mom pleads not guilty
21. Woman Pleads Not Guilty To Charges Linked To Adoptive Daughter's Death

=== Other News
22. Burundi: Followers of religious sect detained (Migurumiko)
23. IRS church seizure might be first for government
24. Indianapolis church's Marshal says he hopes to avoid confrontation
25. Mankato man guilty in psychic financial scam
26. Rastafarian tackles Constitution on ganja
27. Concern as religious group plans new base (Jesus Army)
28. First contact for UFO mecca?
29. Polygamy recognised in South Africa
30. A Wive's Tale (Polygamy)
31. Sects, Rancher Fined For Water Use (Hutterites)


=== Paganism / Witchcraft

13. Heather Miller gets prison for plot to murder
The Morning Call, Nov. 14, 2000
http://www.mcall.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A bizarre case of witchcraft and infidelity, of deadly herbs and lethal
intentions came down to this Monday morning in a packed Bucks County courtroom:

Heather Miller will spend up to 10 years in state prison for plotting to kill
her husband with poisoned mashed potatoes.
(...)

Bucks County Judge David W. Heckler imposed the punishment Monday, brushing
aside suggestions that Miller was driven to the brink of murder by a lifetime of
physical and mental abuse.
(...)

Before contemplating murder, prosecutors said, Miller tried to drive her husband
out of her life through the use of black magic at the suggestion of a friend who
dabbled in witchcraft.
(...)

Henry focused several times in a taped conversation between Miller and friend
Mindi Robbins, who wore a hidden microphone after detailing the plot for police.
On the tape, Miller can be heard going over the plot, including what an autopsy
would show, while her children can be heard in the background.
(...)

During her trial in September, Miller testified that she had a sexual
relationship with Robbins and shared an interest in witchcraft with her.

Heather and Kevin Miller, who have been married for six years, have reconciled
since the murder plot was uncovered, according to defense attorney John
Fiorvanti. Kevin Miller attended the sentencing, several times making eye
contact with his wife. He left the courtroom quickly after the hearing ended and
could not be reached for comment.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Satanism

14. Satanist gets 42 yrs. for arson
UPI, Nov. 15, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- A self-described Satanist who admitted setting 26
church fires in eight states Wednesday faced more than 42 years in prison.

Jay Scott Ballinger, 38, expressed hostility toward Christianity in the plea
agreement he signed before U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker Tuesday.
Barker sentenced him to 42 years and seven months.
(...)

Ballinger admitted burning churches in Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Alabama, South
Carolina, California, Kentucky and Tennessee. As part of his sentence, he also
was ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution.

Ballinger's girlfriend, Angela Wood, 25, also pleaded guilty and Wednesday was
sentenced to 16 years in prison. ''I was too lazy to think for myself and I let
somebody else influence me,'' Wood told the court. ''I can't blame anyone else for
that.''

Court records indicate the two shared beliefs in Satanism, the occult and
witchcraft.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Hate Groups / Hate Crimes

15. Man denies he's guilty of rights violations
San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 14, 2000
http://www.uniontrib.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A Lemon Grove man denied yesterday that he organized a group of white
supremacists who harassed several community leaders, including U.S. Rep. Bob
Filner.

Alex Curtis, 25, pleaded not guilty to three federal counts of conspiracy to
violate civil rights. If convicted, he faces 10 years in federal prison and a
$250,000 fine for each count.

Curtis and a Lakeside man, Michael Brian DaSilva, are accused of repeatedly
harassing community leaders with a string of racist messages, including slogans
advocating violence against minorities.

Curtis' father, Dale, appeared in court and sat next to Tom Metzger, a Fallbrook
founder of the racist group known as the White Aryan Resistance.
(...)

In a 1990 lawsuit, the Southern Poverty Law Center claimed Metzger should be
held responsible for the actions of his skinhead followers after they were
convicted of fatally beating an Ethiopian man with baseball bats in Portland,
Ore. The center won a multimillion-dollar judgment.
(...)

Alex Curtis is in custody pending a hearing in federal court. Prosecutors said
they plan to argue that Curtis, who runs a racist Web site, should be held
without bond because he is dangerous and could flee the country.
(...)

Two other men charged in the case, Robert Nichol Morehouse and Kevin Christopher
Holland, have already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate civil rights and
are awaiting sentencing.

According to federal prosecutors, the group harassed Filner, La Mesa Mayor Art
Madrid, civil rights activist Clara Harris and Morris Casuto, the regional
director of the Anti-Defamation League in San Diego.

In addition, they are accused of spray-painting anti-Semitic slogans and symbols
on two area synagogues.

DaSilva is also accused of threatening to kill Holland if he cooperated with
authorities.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


16. Notorious Kansas church leader taking anti-gay message to Maine
Boston Herald/Associated Press, Nov. 16, 2000
http://www.bostonherald.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
KENNEBUNK, Maine - Residents and town officials say they have no idea why a
notorious Kansas preacher plans to bring his anti-gay message to Kennebunk on
Sunday, but they say he will not have much success.
(...)

Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., said Tuesday
that he and 15 parishioners will picket at five Kennebunk churches Sunday
morning.

Westboro Baptist Church members have picketed at the funerals of homosexuals,
including that of Matthew Shepard, who was brutally beaten and tortured in
Wyoming in October 1998.

Phelps said Maine's referendum on gay rights was one reason why Kennebunk was
targeted.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


17. Lawyer Warned of Holocaust Revision
AP, Nov. 14, 2000
http://news.excite.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
WASHINGTON (AP) - A former Nuremberg prosecutor warned the FBI in 1969 that he
feared Holocaust revisionist author David Irving planned to tamper with
transcripts or tapes of the Nazi war crimes trial in U.S. archives.

The British historian visited the National Archives numerous times. The agency's
retired expert on World War II records said Tuesday he knows of no evidence that
Irving mishandled records he examined.
(...)

Irving, who has outraged death camp survivors and most historians by questioning
the scope of the Holocaust, lost a British libel suit in April. The judge
branded him ''an active Holocaust denier'' and ''anti-Semitic and racist.''
(...)

In the March 1969 letter, released in a wide-ranging government declassification
program, Kempner wrote that Irving had told him he planned to visit the
Washington archives to research his contention that the official record of the
Nuremberg trials was falsified.

Kempner said he was suspicious because of that accusation and others Irving made
during a conversation they had.

''I am sure if he shows up at the National Archives (probably a Mr. Wolfe is in
charge of the division concerned) someone will be able (to) watch in the proper
way what this `scholar' is doing,'' Kempner wrote Hoover.

''Maybe this research is only a pretext for some other activities,'' he wrote.

''Mr. Wolfe'' is Robert Wolfe, for decades the archives expert on World War II
records. The now-retired Wolfe told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he does
not recall that the letter resulted in special security for Irving visits.
(...)

Wolfe said Irving visited the archives many times, adding that ''he's a good
researcher - his bias is what throws him off.'' He said Irving usually was
treated as other researchers were; that is, he was given access to public
materials.

''But Irving's reputation went with him - though I've seen worse deniers than
him,'' said Wolfe. ''He was treated with the same regime as others, perhaps a
touch more alertness.''

Irving, who has written some 30 books, disputes that millions of Jews were
systematically slaughtered in gas chambers at Nazi concentration camps. He
argues that it would have been logistically impossible and claims more people
died in Allied bombing raids than in concentration camps.

He also has tried to cast doubt on other pieces of evidence from the Holocaust,
including the diary of Anne Frank, and contends that Adolf Hitler knew nothing
about the plan to eliminate the Jews until 1943.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


18. FBI raids former Klan leader David Duke's home
CNN/AP, Nov. 16, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
MANDEVILLE, Louisiana (AP) -- Federal agents searched the home of former Ku Klux
Klan leader David Duke and seized boxes of documents Thursday.

FBI spokeswoman Sheila Thorne refused to give any details about the
investigation.
(...)

The former KKK leader and Senate candidate appeared before a federal grand jury
in New Orleans in 1999 as news broke that Gov. Mike Foster had paid him more
than $150,000 for a computerized list of his supporters. There were two payments
made, one during and one after the 1995 governor's race, which Foster won.

It was not known if Thursday's raid on Duke's home had anything to do with that
matter.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


19. Klan seeks rally in heavily Jewish suburb
UPI (owned by the Unification Church), Nov. 15, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
SKOKIE, Ill., Nov. 15 (UPI) - Village officials Wednesday reviewed a request by
the Ku Klux Klan for a permit to hold a ''White Pride Rally'' at the courthouse in
the heavily Jewish suburb next month.
(...)

If the Klan gets the permit it would be their first rally in Skokie, which is
home to hundreds of Holocaust survivors.

Skokie made international headlines in 1978 and was the subject of a
made-for-television movie when officials tried to block a rally by the American
Nazi Party by forcing the neo-Nazi group to buy liability insurance.

The Nazis rally was canceled when counter-protestors vastly outnumbered hate
group members and they left.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Rebirthing

20. 'Rebirth' mom pleads not guilty
The Denver Post. Nov. 14, 2000
http://www.denverpost.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Nov. 14, 2000 - The adoptive mother of a 10-year-old girl who in died in an
Evergreen ''rebirthing'' session that went awry pleaded not guilty Monday to
negligent child abuse resulting in death.

Jeane Newmaker, 47, faces four to 16 years in prison if convicted.
(...)

Four other defendants in the case face the charge of reckless child abuse
resulting in death.
(...)

Connell Watkins, Julie Ponder, Brita St. Clair and Jack McDaniel have all
pleaded not guilty to reckless child abuse resulting in death. Watkins, owner of
the Connell Watkins and Associates therapy center, and Ponder, who was in charge
of the rebirthing session, are scheduled to be tried together Jan. 23.

The trial of office manager St. Clair and intern McDaniel is scheduled for April
3. Both trials are expected to last three weeks.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


21. Woman Pleads Not Guilty To Charges Linked To Adoptive Daughter's Death
Child Denver Rocky Mountain News, Nov. 14, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
The adoptive mother of Candace Newmaker pleaded not guilty Monday to child-abuse
charges connected to her daughter's ''rebirthing'' death.

Jeane Newmaker, 47, of Durham, N.C., made a brief appearance in Jefferson County
District Court, escorted by her three-person legal team. Judge Jane Tidball set
her trial for May 14.
(...)

Pam Mackey, Newmaker's attorney, told Tidball that she was worried a spring
trial date may make it impossible to find an impartial jury because of publicity
surrounding the trials of two therapists and their assistants also charged in
the case.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Other News

22. Burundi: Followers of religious sect detained
BBC Monitoring, Nov. 14, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Text of report by Burundi news agency Net Press on 14th November

Teachings of the Migurumiko sect, a breakaway group from the MEI [Independent
Evangelical Church], are spreading like wildfire across the whole country. The
sect, run by Andre Migurumiko, is becoming more and more popular due to its
revelations for some and its nonsense for others, and contains serious
disharmony within itself.
(...)

Fighting was reported on Sunday, 12th November 2000, between Migurumiko and MEI
followers. It all started when two people, armed with guns and grenades and
wearing military uniform, led by an extremist group member within Migurumiko,
entered a church in Magarama neighbourhood.

Encouraged by the pastor from Cibitoke Province, they confronted the MEI
faithful and threatened them to either pray with Migurumiko or leave the church.
(...)

Thus 37 followers of Migurumiko were arrested and found themselves being
interrogated by the police during which they said they would continue to follow
their guru for better or for worse. The latest news speak of steps being taken
to close this church.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


23. IRS church seizure might be first for government
CNN/AP, Nov. 14, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (AP) -- Hundreds of parishioners whose church was ordered
seized in a $6 million dispute with the IRS prayed and wept Tuesday as they
awaited the arrival of federal marshals.

Experts believe the U.S. government has never before seized a church in a
dispute over taxes.

Singing ''Faith of our Fathers,'' members and supporters of the Indianapolis
Baptist Temple worshipped for what they believed would be the last time inside
the church. A noon deadline for the independent Baptist congregation to vacate
its property passed without any sign of marshals.
(...)

Dixon and his father, the Rev. Greg J. Dixon, who was pastor of the church for
41 years, have been locked in a 16-year dispute with the government in which
they have questioned the authority of the IRS.

The church, with a 1,000-member congregation, stopped withholding federal income
and Social Security taxes from the paychecks of its employees in 1984. Church
officials said that their duty to obey God prevailed over manmade laws, and that
withholding taxes would make the church an agent of the government. The younger
Dixon said the employees have paid their own taxes.

On September 28, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker ordered the surrender of
the church, its school and parsonages to satisfy a lien of $6 million in back
taxes, penalties and interest. The buildings could then be auctioned off.

On Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Marshal Frank Anderson would not say when the seizure
would take place. He said only that the Marshals Service wants to ''do it as
quickly as we can.''
(...)

Some people were worried about the possibility of violence after right-wing
militia groups pledged to defend the church, but there were no immediate signs
of any guns.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


24. Indianapolis church's Marshal says he hopes to avoid confrontation
The Courier-Journal, Nov. 15, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Noon came to the Indianapolis Baptist Temple yesterday, but federal marshals
didn't.
(...)

The seizure, when it takes place, will resolve a dispute that dates to 1984 -
and it apparently will be the first time federal officials have taken a church
building to satisfy a tax lien.

By last night, federal authorities had secured a parsonage but not the temple.

Earlier yesterday, the Rev. Greg J. Dixon, the pastor emeritus who started
preaching at the church in 1955, said, ''We're still here and it's past noon.
What are you going to do now, judge?''

Actually, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker never ordered marshals to
appear at noon yesterday. She had said, instead, that church leaders were to
abandon the property, which is on the south side of Indianapolis between a Kmart
and an urban neighborhood of brick-and-wood homes.

U.S. Marshal Frank Anderson said yesterday that he is in no particular hurry to
confiscate the property and wants to avoid confrontation, although he said his
agency has the authority to enter the buildings at any time.
(...)

Temple leaders contend that the church doesn't have to answer to the federal
government - only to God and Jesus Christ.

The case is unusual because it involves a large and well- established
congregation, said Thomas C. Berg, a law professor at Samford University's
Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Ala.

''Usually, you get an organization trying to claim they're a church but are
actually a front for a business,'' he said.

The vast majority of churches pay their withholding taxes without complaint
because ''they realize they pretty much have a free ride,'' said Derek Davis,
director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church State Studies at Baylor
University.

Churches are exempt from state and federal income taxes, most property taxes and
franchise taxes, he said.

''But when it comes to payroll taxes, they're treated no differently than any
business organization,'' Davis said. ''Government officials may be sympathetic,
and understand the politics of seizing on a tax lien of a church is not popular
and raises a lot of questions that doing the same to a business does not.
Nevertheless, churches have to be treated on an equal basis if they do not pay.''

Yesterday Dixon told temple supporters that ''federal marshals will come at some
point, and they will not come to worship.'' He said officials would tear the
buildings apart looking for weapons or drugs.
(...)

A St. Louis religious radio station broadcast from inside the sanctuary. Several
short-wave religious stations broadcast from the temple.
(...)

A group of men who said they were members of the Ku Klux Klan huddled in a
corner of the parking lot but vowed non-violence in deference to the temple's
head pastor, Dixon's son, the Rev. Greg A. Dixon.

The younger Dixon said repeatedly that he and church members plan to defend
their church - but passively, without guns or violence.
(...)

''I'll stay as long as it takes,'' said Prestin Gwin, a relative newcomer to the
congregation.

He said the conflict is not about money or taxes but control. The church could
have avoided the $6 million debt, but only if it had subjected itself to IRS
rules. That was unacceptable, Gwin said.

''If this was about money, they'd be collecting billions of dollars owed in Texas
by the savings and loans. Why would they make such a big scene over $6 million
when there are billions out there,'' said Edward Williams, who is not a member of
the Baptist Temple but came to show his support. ''This is about control.''
(...)

The Rev. Bob McCurry, pastor of the Heritage Baptist Church in Sharpsburg, Ga.,
told supporters that the siege of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple is only the
beginning.

''For years, I have tried, I've thundered forth, to wake up preachers, to wake up
Christians, to wake up Americans,'' he said. ''This is not an Indianapolis Baptist
Temple battle only. This is a national battle.''

But Davis, of Baylor University, said the temple's conflict would not have a
domino effect within the religious community.

''The government here has been extremely patient, and most churches pay their
obligations,'' Davis said. ''But there's always been a strain of the faith
community in America that any kind of involvement in religious affairs was not
only unbiblical but illegal too. To me, it's something of a naive, almost
perverted, way of looking at the relationship between the church and government
authority.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


25. Mankato man guilty in psychic financial scam
Star Tribune, Nov. 14, 2000
http://www2.startribune.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A Mankato man accused of bilking more than 100 people who paid more than
$310,000 for phony psychic and financial services was convicted Monday by a
federal jury in St. Paul of five counts of mail fraud and one count of
conspiracy to launder money.
(...)

Co-defendant Merna J. Sunde, 66, of Albert Lea, previously pleaded guilty to a
money laundering charge and is awaiting sentencing.

Taylor and Sunde were indicted by a federal grand jury in February on charges
that they took out ads in national tabloid publications claiming that, for a
fee, they could use psychic powers to reunite lovers, remove hexes, curses and
spells, and provide winning lottery numbers.

Some victims said that when they complained to Taylor that the promised good
fortune hadn't occurred, he would request more money ''to make the miracle
happen.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


26. Rastafarian tackles Constitution on ganja
Independent/Sapa (South Africa), Nov. 14, 2000
http://www.iol.co.za/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A Rastafarian candidate attorney who claims to use dagga for religious purposes
is to argue before the Constitutional Court on Thursday that the possession and
use of dagga should be legal.

Counsel for Gareth Anver Prince is to ask the Constitutional Court to rule that
adult Rastafarians should be exempted from the application of statutory
provisions which make the possession and use of cannabis (dagga) illegal and
subject to a fine or imprisonment.

Prince initially took to litigation after the Law Society of the Cape of Good
Hope opposed his application for admission as an attorney. The refusal was on
the grounds that he had convictions for dagga possession, and because he
indicated he would continue to use the drug.

Previous convictions usually bar applicants from admission as attorneys.

Prince argued that the prohibition violated his right to freedom of religion, to
dignity, not to be unfairly discriminated against and to choice of profession.

The High Court held that while the prohibition did infringe Prince's right to
freedom of religion, that infringement was justifiable.

It also held that the State had an interest in the strict regulation and control
of dagga, a dangerous drug, and that such regulation was in accordance with
South Africa's international treaty obligations.
(...)

The state argues that dagga is a dangerous drug and that granting an exemption
to Rastafarians to use and possess it would undermine the state's efforts to
prevent use and trafficking in dagga.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


27. Concern as religious group plans new base
The Scotsman, Nov. 16, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A religious group often regarded as a cult is to set up a base in Glasgow, it
emerged yesterday.

The Jesus Army, or Jesus Fellowship Church, claim to have attracted over 200
potential followers to a recent meeting in Partick.

Recruits to the church's ''training year'' are expected to pay GBP 65 a week to
cover travel, board and lodging. It strongly denies it is a cult.

Ian Howarth of the Cult Information Centre said: ''The Jesus Army is a group
about which we are definitely concerned and always have been.''
[...entire item...]


28. First contact for UFO mecca?
BBC, Nov. 14, 2000
http://adsrv.iol.co.za/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Scotland's UFO hot-spot could be set to make contact - with a city known across
the world as a mecca for alien enthusiasts.

A local councillor wants to twin Bonnybridge with Roswell, the US city which has
been synonymous with other-worldly encounters for more than 50 years.

The area sealed its place in folklore when it was claimed that a spaceship had
landed in New Mexico in 1947.
(...)

However, the Scottish town of Bonnybridge could have usurped its crown, having
been dubbed the UFO capital of the world by some enthusiasts.

Dozens of unexplained sightings have been recorded in the area, which attracts
visitors from across the globe.

Councillor Billy Buchanan has held a public meeting which could pave the way for
a twinning arrangement between them.
(...)

''Bonnybridge has had more sightings than anywhere else in the world.''

He said experts from across the world had touched down in the area to examine
the phenomena, but no-one could say why the area had so many sightings.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


29. Polygamy recognised in South Africa
AAP, Nov. 16, 2000
http://au.dailynews.yahoo.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A new law that recognises traditional African marriages, including polygamous
unions, came into effect in South Africa today.

The law will bring relief to African women who have for long been discriminated
against because their traditional marriages were not recognised, or because of
the oppressive nature of customary unions, justice minister spokesman Paul
Setsetse told AFP.

''They could not get joint home loans or be on their husband's medical aid, but
most importantly they now have some rights when they leave their husbands.

''They can now have a divorce settlement, (husbands) can no longer throw them out
in the street,'' he said.

Under the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, such marriages can only be
dissolved by a court order whereas before traditional marriages were dissolved
by the families of the spouses.
(...)

''The act also stipulates that you can only legally enter into a traditional
African marriage if it is part of your culture,'' Nhlapo said, meaning that in
practice at least one of the partners would have to be black.

''If it is not part of your traditional culture it does not apply to you,'' he
said.

Likewise polygamy will be legally recognised only if it is part of the
traditional culture of one of the spouses.

But women will not be allowed to have more than one husband as this has never
been an accepted practice in any of South Africa's cultures.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


30. A Wive's Tale
Salt Lake Tribune, Nov. 16, 2000
http://www.sltrib.com/2000/nov/11162000/utah/44154.htm
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Taylorsville lawmaker David Zolman used the occasion of his last Republican
caucus to introduce three women and a book -- a collection of essays written by
more than 100 plural wives.

It was an unorthodox gesture from a four-year legislator who fashioned a career
on singular pursuits, among them a dogged plea that Utahns openly debate the
state's dirty little secret -- polygamy.

Zolman believes his willingness to lend a hand to ''a crumpled, bruised and
bandaged subculture'' cost him his House seat last week in a close election. On
the upside, he told lawmakers Wednesday, defending a class of citizens who
practice religious polygamy has become his ''road to Jericho.''
(...)

And then Zolman, a professional genealogist, asked Mary Batchelor, Anne Wilde
and Marianne Watson -- authors of the soon-to-be-published book Voices in
Harmony -- to stand. It was a strange moment: three women, two of them plural
wives, rising in the midst of Utah's Republican leadership, a group with many
members whose family trees have polygamous branches.

''We realize silence is no longer a virtue,'' Watson said afterwards. ''There is a
slow burn in our community because for so long we haven't been able to speak
without fear of reprisal.''

Putting their names on a book is not without risk since plural marriage is
illegal. Yet, while the women who contributed compositions to the volume remain
anonymous, Watson, Batchelor (who was once a plural wife) and Wilde have taken
the step of outing themselves.
(...)

D. Michael Quinn, a historian of Mormonism who previewed the book, wrote in an
acknowledgment: ''These women's personal essays do not fit the outsider's
stereotype. From 19-year-olds to women of retirement age, these plural wives are
intelligent, articulate, and integrated with modern society.''

Quinn's reaction is what Zolman hoped to elicit from other lawmakers. He mostly
failed.

Two years ago, Zolman did not step as much as leap into a maelstrom of
anti-polygamy sentiment. Most observers were busy condemning polygamy in
response to the beating and incestuous marriage of a 16-year-old member of the
Kingston polygamous clan.

In that atmosphere, Zolman spoke of amnesty, suggesting lawmakers decriminalize
polygamy and end a ''witch hunt'' that had marginalized Utah's estimated 30,000
polygamists, many of them good, hard-working people.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


31. Sects, Rancher Fined For Water Use
The Columbian, Nov. 16, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
SPOKANE (AP) The state Department of Ecology has fined two religious sects and a
yak rancher for allegedly withdrawing more irrigation water than they are
allowed under water rights.

The $200,000 in fines announced Monday are in addition to fines already levied
against two Hutterite colonies and Stevens County rancher Jack Simmons of
Valley.

Ecology contends the Hutterites are depleting the fragile Odessa aquifer, which
is losing water, and forcing their neighbors to drill deeper wells.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

» Continued in Part 3