SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Buildings used by three Episcopal parishes that broke away from the mother church in a dispute over a gay bishop should be placed under the control of the Los Angeles diocese, an appeals court ruled.

Relying on church law, the state's 4th District Court of Appeal ruled Monday, "The right of the general church in this case to enforce a trust on the local parish property is clear."Read more

When I was in high school I used to swing by McDonalds for breakfast almost every morning.  I usually bypassed the drive through because my grandfather was always inside.  We called him Grandy.  His mornings were ritualistic.  My grandmother would fix him a couple of fried eggs with a side of Purnell’s sausage and a glass of orange juice for breakfast every morning for over fifty years.  Then, on his way to work, he would stop and get a cup of coffee at McDonalds, which, with the senior discount, only cost him twenty-five cents, proving, once and for all, that Starbucks puts magician David Blaine to shame.  That’s where I would see him, sitting in the same corner booth surrounded by all his friends.  He was a tobacco farmer (though he never smoked the stuff because he was also a Baptist) and a painter (homes, barns, fences, whatever else), as were most of his friends that joined him around the table.  My dentist, Dr. Hayes, was usually there, too.  If we had won our basketball game the night before I always went inside.Read more