Channel 13 News story about white lines, 2/04/2000--transcript
Xenubat@primenet.com (Bat Child (Sue M.))
05 Feb 2000

Description of video is in [brackets].

[monitor in background has the word "Scientology" in white letters on blue background]

NEWS ANCHOR: It's not lines in, in the sand, but it is line in the street, in the pavement marking the first clearly visible permanent point of confrontation between the Church of Scientology and a wealthy opponent. As Fox-13's Steve Nichols found out, this point of confrontation, this line in the street has the potential of affecting everybody.

[footage of Waterson Avenue, caption "Downtown Clearwater"]

STEVE NICHOLS (VOICE OF): Waterson Avenue in downtown Clearwater, a narrow roadway buses travel to deliver hundreds of Scientologists to a cafeteria.

[close-up of white lines]

STEVE NICHOLS (VOICE OF): A couple of weeks ago, a pair of strange stripes slithered across Waterson and both its sidewalks, much to the chagrin of some people.

WOMAN: They came into our office and they said, "Nobody is allowed to use the sidewalks on either side of the street if there is a Scientology vehicle loading or unloading."

[Scn building, another building with address, "33 North Building"]

STEVE NICHOLS (VOICE OF): This lady is with a group called The Lisa McPherson Trust, avowed opponents of the Church of Scientology and its newest neighbor.

BOB MINTON (talking to Steve Nichols): We're not here for a short term, we're here for a long term and--

[Minton with Steve Nichols; Minton holding a page with some drawings of a building and pointing to various drawings]

STEVE NICHOLS (VOICE OF): That's Bob Minton, the man with the money to buy this building with plans to turn it into an anti-Scientology headquarters--big plans.

BOB MINTON (caption--"Bob Minton, Scientology opponent"): Just the steel and glass costs about $80,000, so--

[cops getting out of a car, cop outside with Flag bus nearby and what looks like a Sea Org woman in background; two people walking, one carrying a sign with what looks like a phone number on it]

STEVE NICHOLS (VOICE OF): Keeping the peace between Minton's group and the church is a headache cops saw coming weeks ago. The lines in the street are part of the solution, a way to keep some space between protesters and parishioners on their way to dinner. I wanted to know, "What about the rest of us? Do we all have to toe this line?"

STEVE NICHOLS (ON CAMERA, TALKING TO POLICE OFFICER): So, like, I might innocently be walking down the street and there's a van parked there that has nothing to do with my life, and you would arrest me.

POLICE OFFICER: We don't think, go down there and find out from the office--it's all confusing to me, too.

WOMAN (off camera): Where were your workers--

POLICE OFFICER: There's a sergeant right there--

WOMAN (off camera): When you proposed--

[several cops standing on sidewalk; police car; Steve Nichols and Wayne Shelor inside office; closeup of white line with somebody standing on it]

STEVE NICHOLS (VOICE OF): Four patrolmen and a sergeant refused to answer that simple question, preferring headquarters handle the matter. Sergeant Wayne Shelor assures us nobody will be arrested for just crossing the line. But...

STEVE NICHOLS (off camera, talking to Wayne Shelor): I realize that just crossing the line is not a matter of arrest, but if somebody were to say, "Sorry, officer, I feel I can cross that line" and crosses it, then what happens?

WAYNE SHELOR (caption--"Wayne Shelor, Clearwater Police Department"): Well, you'd have to--the circumstances would dictate what happens, but you may be going from crossing a line to obstruction of justice and that's a whole different animal.

[close-up of sign saying "It's safe to talk", camera pulls away to show Bob Minton standing next to the sign; cop car with Flag bus and another car pulling up]

STEVE NICHOLS (VOICE OF): The church blames Minton for this restriction, its spokesman saying there were no such points of daily confrontation before his arrival. Minton's folks claim they just want to express their opinions freely. But for now, nobody gets to do anything inside these lines except go to dinner. In Clearwater, Steve Nichols, Fox-13 News.

NEWS ANCHOR: Well, the lines probably won't go away any time soon. They're made out of the same rubbery paint used to stripe the roads.

Sue, SP4(:), listed on the Scieno Sitter list 5 times!
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