MEN-ONLY MORMON CONFERENCE SESSION TO BE BROADCAST: SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Mormon church conference session next month that's previously been limited to men will be broadcast live for all to watch for the first time.
But a group of LDS women advocating for complete gender equality say that's still not enough. They say they'll still carry out their plan to stand outside and ask to be let in the Oct. 5 session.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Tuesday that the priesthood session during the first day of the conference in Salt Lake City would be available on channels and online, including LDS.org, the Mormon Channel and BYUtv. The conference is Oct. 5-6.
Church officials say the move aims to make the meeting, held during the twice-yearly general conference, accessible to members around the globe. The session is reserved for members of the priesthood, which includes most males in the church 12 years old and older. Session broadcasts were previously password-protected.
Ordain Women, a group of Mormon women that formed earlier this year to push for gender equality and ordination of women, said in a news release that they are pleased with the move toward openness, but they still want to attend the session. The women requested tickets to the session, but were denied by church leaders.
FAMILY HURT IN NY WHEN DEER JUMPS THROUGH MINIVAN: ELLENBURG, N.Y. (AP) — A family was on a drive and enjoying the fall foliage when a six-point buck flew through one side of their minivan and out the other, leaving them showered with glass and wondering what just happened, a member of the family said Tuesday.
"If my daughter hadn't been lying down in the back seat she would have been killed," said Chris Perry of Chateaugay, near the Canadian border. Her husband, 61-year-old John Perry, and their 16-year-old daughter were treated at a Plattsburgh hospital for minor injuries and released after Thursday's accident.
Perry said her husband was driving about 45 or 50 mph on Route 374 in Ellenburg, not far from their home, when they heard a loud bang around 4:45 p.m. Thursday.
"Then it was raining glass, getting in our hair, and our daughter was screaming in the back seat," Perry said. "My husband pulled over and we opened the door to get her out; then a guy ran over and said a deer flew through the van. We didn't know what had happened."
Perry said the deer apparently leaped out of the woods and smashed through the rear windows on the driver's side, landed on the teen, and launched itself through the glass on the passenger side while the van was still moving. The deer died.
BEAR OBEYS BARTENDER'S COMMAND, LEAVES JUNEAU BAR: JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — If only all unwelcome bar guests were this obliging.
A black bear walked into the bar at the Alaskan Hotel in downtown Juneau on Monday night.
Bartender Ariel Svetlik-McCarthy says she freaked out and yelled, "No bear! Get out! No! You can't be in here!"
The bear complied, leaving the bar within seconds.
State biologist Ryan Scott says it's rare for black bears to go inside Juneau businesses, but they have wandered inside homes before.
He said the staff did a great job, and it was good news the bear left.
WOMAN BECOMES 1ST TO ROW SOLO FROM JAPAN TO ALASKA: ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Sarah Outen, a 28-year-old British adventurer, became the first woman to row solo from Japan to Alaska, arriving late Monday at a small town in the Aleutian Islands after 150 days and 3,750 miles at sea.
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She left Choshi, Japan, on April 27. It's part of her plan for a global trek by an ocean rowing shell, kayak and bike.
On Monday afternoon, Outen came within a half mile of the Alaska shore before winds and currents started pushing her onto the rocks. Her support team decided it was safer to tow her into Adak's small harbor.
On the row, she battled dangerous seas, and her boat, Happy Socks, capsized five times. She also fought the psychological battle of being alone. In the last few days, she almost hit a cargo ship after her radar failed, and she battled cooling temperatures and increasing darkness.
