 January 13, 1999
National Notes
___ Court paves way to church exemption. The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that the separation of church and state is not violated by a state law exempting churches and other charitable organizations from "adverse possession" claims against their property. The ruling came in a dispute over a driveway separating a Methodist church and an adjacent business. Surveys showed that the driveway, which had been used for years by Cold Hollow Cider Mill, was owned by Waterbury Center Community Church. In most cases, Vermont law sets a 15-year time limit for property owners to assert exclusive
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MEMBERS of the Colorado-based religious group Concerned Christians are deported from Israel. (RNS photo)
| possession and use of property that is being used by others. But the 15-year limitation does not apply to property owned by "public, pious or charitable" organizations.The owners of the cider mill argued that exempting churches from the time limitation unconstitutionally advances religion, but that view was rejected by the court.
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___ More homeless requesting shelter. New surveys on the homeless indicate many cities have seen increased requests for emergency shelter, and one in two homeless parents come from broken families. Requests for emergency shelter by homeless families increased by an average of 15 percent during the past year in 30 cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. City officials said the leading cause of homelessness was a lack of affordable housing. They also cited substance abuse, mental illness, low-paying jobs, domestic violence and changes and cuts in public assistance.
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___ Abortion facilities decreasing. The number of facilities offering abortions in the United States dropped 14 percent between 1992 and 1996 and now number close to a third fewer than their peak level in 1982, an Alan Guttmacher Institute study has found. The U.S. abortion rate has been decreasing as the abortion facilities close.
___ Single fathers on increase. The number of single fathers in the United States has grown 25 percent in the past three years, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. Experts said the trend could be attributed to an increasing tendency of men to seek and get custody and the greater willingness of adoption agencies to consider single people as parents. In 1998, fathers account for one in six single parents; in 1970, they were about one in 10.
___ Judge throws out ban on abortion procedure. A federal judge in Des Moines, Iowa, has struck down the state's ban on a controversial late-term abortion procedure. In a 20-page decision issued Dec. 21, U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt said the law does not clearly define the procedure known by its critics as "partial-birth" abortion. Pratt said the law violates privacy rights and is unconstitutionally vague.
___ Israel deports 14 American sect members. Moving to head off the possibility of millennium-induced violence, Israel has ordered the deportation of 14 U.S. citizens believed to be members of the Denver-based Concerned Christians "doomsday" sect. The Americans, including six children, were detained in a raid Jan. 3 on two suburban Jerusalem homes. Police said they believed the detainees were all members of the Colorado group Concerned Christians led by Monte Kim Miller, and that they intended to commit an "extreme and violent act in the streets of Jersualem toward the end of the year 1999, in order to hasten the Second Coming of Jesus." An estimated 78 members of the group disappeared from Denver in October, after their leader allegedly told them he expected to die and be resurrected in Jerusalem just before the turn of the millennium.
___ Amy Grant and Gary Chapman separate. Contemporary Christian music artists Amy Grant and Gary Chapman have announced they are ending their 16-year marriage. "Gary Chapman and Amy Grant regretfully announce their separation after 16 years of marriage," said a brief statement released Dec. 30. "They both ask for your prayers during this sad time and hope that you would respect their privacy." The couple has three children, Matthew, 11, Millie, 9, and Sarah, 6.
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