Havana retiree Maria Antonia confesses that she would be starving without the free lunches doled out by her neighborhood Catholic church.

The 69-year-old widow has a $12-a-month pension that barely covers six to eight days worth of food per month, and she has no relatives abroad who can send her a few extra dollars.

"A free lunch is a life-saver when a pound of pork costs more than $1," says Maria Antonia. "The Church to me is not just a temple or a Mass. It is a way of surviving."

As Cuban ruler Raul Castro cuts government subsidies on the food and health sectors in an attempt to boost the all-but-stalled economy, the Roman Catholic Church is trying to fill the growing gaps in the island's unraveling social welfare net.

With millions in aid from Catholic exiles and groups abroad, parishes are increasingly running soup kitchens and health and education programs, and working with troubled families and HIV-positive Cubans.

"The needs are growing, and the state has limited resources," said Maritza Sanchez, director of Caritas Cubana, the island's branch of the worldwide Catholic relief, development and social service organization.

The good relations between Castro and Cardinal Jaime Ortega also have cleared the way for improved cooperation on issues like humanitarian programs and human rights - like the release of about 125 political prisoners in 2010 and 2011.

Even after Fidel Castro declared the government atheist, seized Church properties and expelled hundreds of priests and nuns in the early 1960s, he allowed some Catholic religious orders to run several hospitals and nursing homes.

Among them are a psychiatric hospital and the Santovenia and Golden Age homes for the elderly in Havana, plus the San Juan de Dios hospital and the Padre Olallo nursing home in eastern Camaguey. Nuns also staff the San Lazaro Hospital for lepers in Havana, although the government owns it.

Church-run nursing homes are so well regarded that they have unofficial waiting lists for admissions, said one parish volunteer. Some elderly seeking quick admission have even offered to turn over their homes to the Church or lay nurses.

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Cuba's Catholic Church tries to fill gaps in social safety net

16-03-2012 09:10 East Leesville Student Building "Phase 1"

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16-03-2012 15:04 East Leesville Baptist Church Phase 2 New Worship Facility

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HOOVER, Alabama -- A contractor has agreed to pay $76,500 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a Hoover couple whose lake was damaged by mud flowing from an expansion project at Riverchase United Methodist Church.

U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre this week approved a consent decree between Randy and Mary Raines Harper and C.E. Huffstutler Contracting LLC., a Blount County company originally hired as the contractor for the church's expansion project.

The consent decree settles the lawsuit filed April 28 by the Harpers. In the suit, the couple contended storm water carried sediment-laden mud from the construction site through two culverts underneath Carl Raines Lake Road onto their property and into their 4-acre lake. The suit said the mud then flowed into an unnamed creek and ultimately deposited into the Cahaba River.

Randy Harper reported the mud flow into his lake to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, which halted construction March 2011. The order was later lifted.

The church filed its own negligence lawsuit in May in Shelby County Circuit Court against Huffstutler after the church's expansion project experienced problems controlling mud flowing off the site.

Heavy rains apparently overwhelmed the temporary erosion control measures on the site when trees and vegetation were stripped from a 7-acre hillside. That case is still pending.

The church hired a new contractor and the project continues to proceed.

Under terms of the federal court decree, Huffstutler agreed to pay $75,000 to the Harpers for settlement of all claims. The company also will pay the couple $1,500 to cover mediation expenses. The consent decree said the settlement money to be paid by Huffstutler has been pledged through a liability insurance policy.

The U.S. Department of Justice did not object to the federal settlement.

Huffstutler, which has no resources to pay fines or penalties and has stopped all operations except minor tasks necessary to shut the company down, admitted no wrongdoing in settling the claims, according to the court filing. The settlement agreement blocks Huffstutler from engaging in any land-clearing activities at Riverchase United and from discharging any pollutants into any waterways at the church site.

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Contractor settles federal lawsuit over mud runoff from Riverchase United Methodist Church construction site

George Frey / Bloomberg

The City Creek Center, being built across the street from the Mormon Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, features a retractable roof overhead and a 1,200-foot-long man-made creek.

Mall construction has screeched to a near-halt across the country, with stores such as San Francisco's Gap shuttering hundreds of locations.

But in Salt Lake City the future of retail is bright: On Thursday, a 700,000-square-foot mega-mall will open in the city's heart. Construction was funded by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

City Creek Center is the nation's only regional mega-mall slated to open this year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, and more than 90 stores and restaurants are moving in. One-third of the retailers are new to Salt Lake City, including Tiffany and Coach. Nordstrom and Macy's are also on board.

Designed by the church's real estate arm, City Creek Center is replete with a retractable sunroof, an artificial creek and fountains that spew fire and water. Apart from elaborate design features, the redevelopment project - estimated by the Mormon-run Deseret News to have cost roughly $1 billion - includes offices, condos, apartments and 5,000 underground parking spots. The mixed-use project is owned and run by mall operator Taubman Centers, which has a long-term lease and revenue-sharing agreement with the LDS Church. Stores will be closed Sundays.

This kind of project isn't new to the Mormon Church; the institution owns many commercial enterprises, including hunting grounds, radio stations, newspapers and insurance companies - not to mention a $1 billion, for-profit cattle-and-citrus ranch in Florida and a Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. Its newest investment will sit directly across the street from the church's monumental Temple and Tabernacle.

Why the big investment in retail?

"These are the two major city blocks that sit across from the headquarters of the Mormon Church and they were poorly designed," says Bill Taubman, chief operating officer of Taubman Centers, who says City Creek has replaced two failing fortress-like shopping centers. "The church ... decided that a major mixed-use project with retail as a centerpiece would be the best way to rejuvenate and stabilize downtown."

In some ways, the Mormon mega-mall investment isn't surprising. The religion's history with department stores dates back to 1868, when Brigham Young, the church's second president, founded Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution. ZCMI, sometimes referred to as "America's First Department Store," was sold to the May Department Stores Co. (now Macy's) in 1999.

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Mormon Church building mega-mall in Salt Lake City

Alberta Baptist Church, shown Thursday, is expected to be demolished starting this week. The building was one of 22 churches in Tuscaloosa County damaged or destroyed by the April 27 tornado.

TUSCALOOSA | Demolition is expected to begin this week on what remains of Alberta Baptist Church.

The building on University Boulevard was one of 22 churches damaged or destroyed by the April 27 tornado and one of the first to begin working with city planning officials to discuss reconstruction based on new building regulations and zoning requirements.

Church members said there were questions about whether to rebuild at all, relocate or even merge with another congregation. The church has been at 1761 University Blvd. E., a gateway to the Alberta community, for more than 90 years. Prayers and contemplation led to the congregation's decision to stay there.

It became obvious that we needed to be back in Alberta and Alberta needed us to be there, said John Matthews, who heads the church's long-range planning committee. This has been a disaster in every sense of the word, but it is an opportunity for a fresh start.

Although the building was destroyed, the church and its congregation are still strong, said building and grounds committee chairman Dan Turner.

In the days after the tornado, church members helped residents in Alberta find food, clothing and family members. Since then, church members have continued to provide assistance to the community from a trailer and tent in the church parking lot.

The congregation has been meeting at Open Door Baptist on McFarland Boulevard on Sundays.

We've had a wonderful ministry, Turner said. It's been a spiritual blessing to us.

The city's plans to improve the nearby Jaycee Park with an upgraded facility for the Boys and Girls Clubs of West Alabama, a BMX bicycle track, a playground, a baseball diamond and a three-court basketball gym will give the church an opportunity to be involved in those community activities, Matthews said.

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Building demolition will give Alberta church a fresh start

An engineer hired by a New Holland-area mega church distilled a 643-page traffic study in 45 minutes on March 13 at an East Earl Township supervisors meeting.

"We're not here for any approvals," said Bob Murphy, senior project manager for Larson Design Group, on behalf of Petra Christian Fellowship, which plans to expand its campus in four phases over the next 15 years at 565 Airport Road.

Murphy said PCF is preparing a secondary submission of preliminary plans. The original plan was proposed to the East Earl planning commission in March 2010.

PCF will submit the plan to the Earl and East Earl township planning commissions, who will make a recommendation to their respective township supervisors as to whether the conditional preliminary plans will move into final design.

"(PCF) anticipates submitting a final phase 2 plan in a few months," stated Murphy in an email. "Construction will hopefully begin by late 2012 or early 2013."

The first phase of the expansion was completed in 2011. The second phase is in its planning stage. Projected completion dates of the third and fourth phase projected completion dates are 2017 and 2027, respectively.

In the first phase, the church added 92 parking spaces to the original 448. Construction began in April 2011 and was completed in September of the same year.

In the plan's second phase, 55,739 square feet will be added to the original 61,400 square-foot facility. The church would add another 340 parking spaces, build a new classroom and subdivide 10 acres into six lots along Ranck Road to help pay for expansion costs.

The plan's third phase, Murphy said, would add an additional 36,689 square feet to the facility by constructing a gymnasium. Possible road work may be required to Airport Road as well.

In the plan's final phase, the church would add an additional 40,781 square feet to the facility by building a new chapel and narthex, doubling its seating capacity to 3,600, and expanding the church's sanctuary.

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New Holland church shares plans for expansion

At left, Nivea Wright helps missionaries check out of the MTC.

Ravell Call, Deseret News

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PROVO Provo will receive a towering new landmark when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints completes its planned new nine-story building on the Missionary Training Center campus.

Construction activities for the as-yet-unnamed building are scheduled to begin in late summer 2012, with completion anticipated in late 2014.

The decision to construct the new building was announced last August, when LDS officials indicated the Melvin J. Ballard building (known to tens of thousands of missionaries who have passed through the MTC as the home of the MTC bookstore, mailroom and the Training Resource Center) will be demolished to make room for the new building.

At that time, church spokesman Scott Trotter indicated that the Ballard Building was in need of significant upgrades, and that LDS leadership determined that razing the old building and constructing a new, larger, state-of-the-art facility was a better option.

It is only recently, however, that the church publicly indicated just how much larger the new building will be. At nine stories, it will be one of the tallest buildings in Provo, ranking behind the Spencer W. Kimball Tower on the BYU campus (12 stories) and the Nu Skin headquarters (10 stories) and equal to the Provo Marriott, which is also nine stories.

In order to talk about possible neighborhood impacts of the construction process for the new building, the church will hold a neighborhood meeting on Thursday, March 22, at 6 p.m. in the Rock Canyon Elementary School gymnasium (2405 N. 650 East in Provo attendees should enter in the west door from the lower parking lot off of 2230 North).

Church representatives will be on hand to answer questions and respond to neighborhood concerns.

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MTC prepares to start construction for new nine-story building

Boston black leaders plan to travel to Los Angeles next week to push minorities there to boycott OneUnited Bank over its plans to foreclose on Roxburys historic Charles Street AME Church.

We stand here today ... calling upon the black community to withdraw every dime they have in OneUnited Bank until they have worked out their differences (with the church), the Rev. Eugene Rivers III said yesterday at a protest convened outside the banks Grove Hall branch to launch the boycott.

In a week or so, (we) will be going to Los Angeles to meet with black church leaders (there) to organize the boycott until OneUnited Bank comes to the table, Rivers said.

Boston-based OneUnited which has branches in Massachusetts, California and Florida plans to foreclose on Charles Street AME next week.

The black-owned bank is taking action because the 194-year-old congregation failed to pay off a $1.1 million balloon mortgage that came due in December.

The overwhelming majority of our community lives up to their financial responsibilities, OneUnited said in a statement.

Charles Street says it would have refinanced into a new loan, but couldnt because of a long-running legal feud with OneUnited.

The bank sued the church in 2010 over a $3.6 million construction loan that the congregation took out to build an adjacent community center.

OneUnited cut off funding in 2009, leaving the project unfinished and the church unable to raise money to pay off the debt.

Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) and Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson joined ministers in calling for the boycott.

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Bank, church fight escalates

PROVO -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans Thursday to construct a new state-of-the art building at the center of the Missionary Training Center campus. The new building will replace the Melvin J. Ballard Building, which will be demolished as part of the construction process.

The LDS Church has several major ongoing building projects in Utah County including a large multi-stake complex at 300 N. and 900 East, the $90 million science building at Brigham Young University, the Downtown Provo Temple and the Payson Temple among others.

MTC representative Richard Heaton indicated that the LDS Church had yet to file for a building permit Thursday. However, they will hold a neighborhood meeting at 6 p.m. March 22 at the Rock Canyon Elementary School gymnasium, 2405 N. 650 East.

"We want to be good neighbors," Heaton said. Church representatives will be on hand to discuss the project.

Neighborhood chairman R. Paul Evans encouraged residents to attend and give their opinion. He said some in the area are not thrilled with the nine-story building.

"We would like to see two five-story buildings rather than one nine-story," he said. "This will be the only meeting held on the matter."

According to a news release from the Church, the Melvin J. Ballard Building has served as home to the MTC bookstore, the MTC mailroom, the training resource center and four large-group meeting rooms. During the demolition and subsequent construction process, the bookstore and mailroom will be moving into the soon-to-be-completed east wing of the Jacob Hamblin Building.

While the existing Ballard Building has two floors above grade, the new building is designed to have several more floors above grade. The new building will house classrooms equipped with modern technological resources.

The ground on which the MTC sits is already zoned for the proposed building. Because the new building will be built in the center of the Missionary Training Center campus, no adverse impact is anticipated for the surrounding neighborhoods throughout the construction process.

However, Missionary Training Center representatives will be available to area residents to answer questions and address concerns as the changes take place.

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LDS Church announces nine-story building at MTC