FORT WORTH - The Tarrant County chief appraiser has issued an ultimatum to prominent televangelists Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, either tell us how much money you're making or start paying taxes on your newest private jet.
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland are widely regarded as two of the most successful televangelists in the world. Their television ministry spans the globe, and their brand new Cessna Citation X jet often gets them there.
But in 2007, News 8 was the first to raise questions as to the possible private use of their new jet, taking it to such places as Steamboat Springs during ski season and a wild game ranch in south Texas.
Despite concerns, Tarrant County chose to award a tax exempt status to that jet. In May of this year, Copeland came into possession of another jet. But this time, a new Tarrant County chief appraiser took a harder stand. The jet will only be tax exempt if the Copelands supply the county with a standard list of ministry salaries.
'We are going to require a list of salaries; and we do require that of every religious organization," said Chief Appraiser Diane Collins.
Monday in Fort Worth, Copeland's attorneys decided to fight the ruling. Once again, they refused to divulge the Copelands' earnings. So, the appeals panel denied a tax exempt status for the new jet.
Copeland's attorneys, David Middlebrook, said they have provided the county with a CPA's certification that none of the ministry resources are being used for personal reasons.
"So, we are not dragging our feet," Middlebrook said. "We are doing our job to make sure that people like you and me can go to a church and exercise our religious freedoms consistent with the Constitution that our founding fathers put in place. Are those planes being used for personal reasons?"
But a religious watchdog group, the Trinity Foundation, said it has obtained government records that show the new jet has also made what appear to be personal trips. Once again, the records say the Copelands' used a jet to travel to Steamboat Springs, Colorado and then back down to South Texas, which is where the Copelands have been photographed on several big game hunts.
The flight information used to be accessible by anyone over the Internet. But after News 8's last investigation, the Copelands were able to block their trip information.
However, none of that is apparently on the chief appraiser's radar. Collins simply said if the Copelands or any church wants tax exempt status, they have to comply with state law and supply salary information.
Copeland's attorneys said they will release nothing and are considering an appeal with the district court.
Copeland's salary is also the subject of a United States Senate Finance Committee investigation. He is one of six televangelists that have been asked by Sen. Charles Grassley to supply salary information.
Four of the six are cooperating with Grassley's investigation. Thus far, Copeland has refused. He said his salary is constitutionally protected from disclosure.
Thursday, 11 December 2008
PASTOR BEATEN UP WHILE DECORATING CHURCH IN CALIF
LOMA LINDA, Calif. -- The pastor of a Highland church is in critical condition after he was beaten and robbed by two men while trying to decorate his church with Christmas lights. Now he's fighting for his life in a Loma Linda hospital.
Pastor Dennis Warman is in critical condition. He suffered skull fractures, internal bleeding and is in a medically-induced coma.
Police say the beating was so bad, if they ever find the suspects, they say they will charge them with attempted murder. "He was just sobbing, and [we were] helping him, and he had fallen to the ground," said Mendy Warman, the victim's wife. "And he couldn't move, and there was just blood everywhere."
Mendy and her daughter Megan were there Saturday night at the Church of the Valley in Highland when it happened. Pastor Warman was there to make last-minute preparations for his sermon in the morning.
"I saw the Christmas tree, and half of one of our Christmas trees in the church, the lights had gone out. And so, he turned and said, 'Oh I'll go ahead and get you a light bulb out of the shed,'" said Mendy.
The next thing she heard was a cry for help from her husband.
"I got the guitar and just started running towards them with it," said Mendy. "And as I ran toward them, one guy grabbed the other one and said, 'Let's get out of here, let's go.' And so they took off running. And I kind of chased for about 50 feet until I thought, "What am I doing? And so I turned around, and remember being thankful that I didn't see a weapon. I didn't see a gun. I was just very thankful that I didn't see... It could've been much worse than even that."
Family members and friends of Pastor Warman will take any good news they can get.
"By yesterday afternoon, the bleeding had stopped. And there's no brain damage," said Mendy. "And so we're rejoicing today in a God that loves us and cares about the details."
"We're asking for the public's assistance," said Jodi Miller, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. "This is an awful, heinous crime -- very, very sad that this pastor was approached."
As police search for suspects, there's been an outpouring of support. But people are asking how something like this could happen.
"That's a question even my daughter asked," said Mendy. "'Daddy was serving God. How can someone attack him?' Because he loves people so much. And so my heart's desire is that God will get a hold of people's lives and it will stop being about violence, and all the things that are going on that are prevalent. Because there's a man up there in a bed that loves the community and wants to see a difference. And loves his God and has a calling in his life."
Police say the motive was robbery. The suspects got away with the pastor's wallet. There isn't much of a description. The assailants are believed to be between 19- and 25-years-old. If you have any information, call (909) 425-9793.
The pastor's wife says no fund has been set up, but people can make donations to the church.
Pastor Dennis Warman is in critical condition. He suffered skull fractures, internal bleeding and is in a medically-induced coma.
Police say the beating was so bad, if they ever find the suspects, they say they will charge them with attempted murder. "He was just sobbing, and [we were] helping him, and he had fallen to the ground," said Mendy Warman, the victim's wife. "And he couldn't move, and there was just blood everywhere."
Mendy and her daughter Megan were there Saturday night at the Church of the Valley in Highland when it happened. Pastor Warman was there to make last-minute preparations for his sermon in the morning.
"I saw the Christmas tree, and half of one of our Christmas trees in the church, the lights had gone out. And so, he turned and said, 'Oh I'll go ahead and get you a light bulb out of the shed,'" said Mendy.
The next thing she heard was a cry for help from her husband.
"I got the guitar and just started running towards them with it," said Mendy. "And as I ran toward them, one guy grabbed the other one and said, 'Let's get out of here, let's go.' And so they took off running. And I kind of chased for about 50 feet until I thought, "What am I doing? And so I turned around, and remember being thankful that I didn't see a weapon. I didn't see a gun. I was just very thankful that I didn't see... It could've been much worse than even that."
Family members and friends of Pastor Warman will take any good news they can get.
"By yesterday afternoon, the bleeding had stopped. And there's no brain damage," said Mendy. "And so we're rejoicing today in a God that loves us and cares about the details."
"We're asking for the public's assistance," said Jodi Miller, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. "This is an awful, heinous crime -- very, very sad that this pastor was approached."
As police search for suspects, there's been an outpouring of support. But people are asking how something like this could happen.
"That's a question even my daughter asked," said Mendy. "'Daddy was serving God. How can someone attack him?' Because he loves people so much. And so my heart's desire is that God will get a hold of people's lives and it will stop being about violence, and all the things that are going on that are prevalent. Because there's a man up there in a bed that loves the community and wants to see a difference. And loves his God and has a calling in his life."
Police say the motive was robbery. The suspects got away with the pastor's wallet. There isn't much of a description. The assailants are believed to be between 19- and 25-years-old. If you have any information, call (909) 425-9793.
The pastor's wife says no fund has been set up, but people can make donations to the church.
WORLD'S HUNGRY " CLOSE TO ONE BILLION "
The food crisis has pushed the number of hungry people in the world to almost 1bn, in what the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation described on Tuesday as a “serious setback” to global efforts to reduce mass starvation.
“The ongoing financial and economic crisis could tip even more people into hunger and poverty,” the FAO added.
The Rome-based organisation said that a preliminary estimate showed the number of undernourished people rose this year by 40m to about 963m people, after rising 75m in 2007. Before the food crisis, there were about 848m chronically hungry people in 2003-05.
“High food prices are driving millions of people into food insecurity, worsening conditions for many who were already food-insecure, and threatening long-term global food security,” the FAO said in its report The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008.
Prices of agricultural commodities such as wheat, corn and rice jumped to record levels earlier this year, triggering food riots in countries ranging from Haiti to Egypt to Bangladesh and prompting appeals for food aid for more than 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Although food commodity prices have fallen about 50 per cent from this summer’s all-time highs, they remain well above pre-crisis levels. The cost of rice, for example, has halved since July, but it still trades at prices that are 95 per cent above 2005 levels.
In addition, the weakening of some emerging countries’ currencies against the US dollar has partially erased gains from the drop in commodity prices.
The new FAO estimates also show the food crisis has thrown into reverse a decline over a quarter-century in the proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the world’s population. The percentage has risen now to about 17 per cent, up from a record low of 16 per cent in 2003-05 period, but still below the 20 per cent of 1990-92.
“Soaring food prices have reversed some of the gain and successes in hunger reduction, making the mission of achieving the internationally agreed goal on hunger reduction more difficult,” the FAO said.
Almost a decade ago, world leaders agreed in New York to the UN Millennium Development Goals, calling among other targets for a halving between 1990 and 2015 in the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
Jacques Diouf, FAO director-general, said in a foreword for the report that the task of achieving the UN’s hunger reduction targets in the remaining several years to 2015 will “require an enormous and resolute global effort and concrete actions”.
However, with leaders’ attention firmly focused on the global financial crisis and its economic ramifications, many observers now believe that the hunger and poverty reduction targets are no longer achievable by 2015.
The vast majority of the world’s undernourished people – more than 90m – live in developing countries, according to FAO estimates. Of these, 65 per cent live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.
In sub-Saharan Africa, one in three people – or almost 240m – are chronically hungry, the highest proportion of undernourished people in the total population.
“The ongoing financial and economic crisis could tip even more people into hunger and poverty,” the FAO added.
The Rome-based organisation said that a preliminary estimate showed the number of undernourished people rose this year by 40m to about 963m people, after rising 75m in 2007. Before the food crisis, there were about 848m chronically hungry people in 2003-05.
“High food prices are driving millions of people into food insecurity, worsening conditions for many who were already food-insecure, and threatening long-term global food security,” the FAO said in its report The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008.
Prices of agricultural commodities such as wheat, corn and rice jumped to record levels earlier this year, triggering food riots in countries ranging from Haiti to Egypt to Bangladesh and prompting appeals for food aid for more than 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Although food commodity prices have fallen about 50 per cent from this summer’s all-time highs, they remain well above pre-crisis levels. The cost of rice, for example, has halved since July, but it still trades at prices that are 95 per cent above 2005 levels.
In addition, the weakening of some emerging countries’ currencies against the US dollar has partially erased gains from the drop in commodity prices.
The new FAO estimates also show the food crisis has thrown into reverse a decline over a quarter-century in the proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the world’s population. The percentage has risen now to about 17 per cent, up from a record low of 16 per cent in 2003-05 period, but still below the 20 per cent of 1990-92.
“Soaring food prices have reversed some of the gain and successes in hunger reduction, making the mission of achieving the internationally agreed goal on hunger reduction more difficult,” the FAO said.
Almost a decade ago, world leaders agreed in New York to the UN Millennium Development Goals, calling among other targets for a halving between 1990 and 2015 in the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
Jacques Diouf, FAO director-general, said in a foreword for the report that the task of achieving the UN’s hunger reduction targets in the remaining several years to 2015 will “require an enormous and resolute global effort and concrete actions”.
However, with leaders’ attention firmly focused on the global financial crisis and its economic ramifications, many observers now believe that the hunger and poverty reduction targets are no longer achievable by 2015.
The vast majority of the world’s undernourished people – more than 90m – live in developing countries, according to FAO estimates. Of these, 65 per cent live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.
In sub-Saharan Africa, one in three people – or almost 240m – are chronically hungry, the highest proportion of undernourished people in the total population.
PREACHER CHARGED IN THEFT OF $70000
SMYRNA - A Decatur pastor arrested on forgery charges in Smyrna on Friday pleaded guilty in DeKalb County last month to unrelated theft charges under the first offender statute.
Maurice Joseph Easley, 37, was given five years probation, ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution and complete 150 hours of community service for theft by taking when he was a property manager employed by NuRock Cos., according to court documents. The case was settled on Nov. 6.
Now the pastor of Sanctuary Church of the Living God in Scottdale, Easley is accused of funneling nearly $70,000 from a Smyrna apartment complex where he worked to his church’s checking account.
Police say he took money from residents’ rent payments, security deposits and other fees from September 2007 to March 2008 while he was employed as a property manager at Mission Galleria Apartments.
The missing money was discovered when the apartment complex conducted an audit early this year, Smyrna police spokesman Lt. Tony Leonard said. In addition to eight counts of forgery, Easley faces two theft by taking counts, which are also felonies.
The earlier incident in DeKalb County was similar as Easley stole money during his employment from June to August 2007. Many of the residents at the DeKalb apartment complex were senior citizens.
“I find it horrendous and incongruous that a man that calls himself a Christian would steal from elderly and poor people to try and build his church,” said Rob Hoskins, a spokesman for NuRock Cos.
Hoskins said many of the residents were about to be evicted for nonpayment before discovering that Easley was stealing the rent payments. Easley left the company before being fired, but Hoskins said the company took legal action once they tracked him down.
Easley posted a $75,000 bond on Friday. He did not return a reporter’s phone call on Tuesday.
Maurice Joseph Easley, 37, was given five years probation, ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution and complete 150 hours of community service for theft by taking when he was a property manager employed by NuRock Cos., according to court documents. The case was settled on Nov. 6.
Now the pastor of Sanctuary Church of the Living God in Scottdale, Easley is accused of funneling nearly $70,000 from a Smyrna apartment complex where he worked to his church’s checking account.
Police say he took money from residents’ rent payments, security deposits and other fees from September 2007 to March 2008 while he was employed as a property manager at Mission Galleria Apartments.
The missing money was discovered when the apartment complex conducted an audit early this year, Smyrna police spokesman Lt. Tony Leonard said. In addition to eight counts of forgery, Easley faces two theft by taking counts, which are also felonies.
The earlier incident in DeKalb County was similar as Easley stole money during his employment from June to August 2007. Many of the residents at the DeKalb apartment complex were senior citizens.
“I find it horrendous and incongruous that a man that calls himself a Christian would steal from elderly and poor people to try and build his church,” said Rob Hoskins, a spokesman for NuRock Cos.
Hoskins said many of the residents were about to be evicted for nonpayment before discovering that Easley was stealing the rent payments. Easley left the company before being fired, but Hoskins said the company took legal action once they tracked him down.
Easley posted a $75,000 bond on Friday. He did not return a reporter’s phone call on Tuesday.
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