Home Care In Elsinore, UT

| Updated: 9:21 a.m.

Two men with ties to a Utah polygamous sect, and who own a casino in Lake Elsinore, Calif., should receive more time to apply for gambling licenses or sell to a cousin, an administrative law judge says.

It’s the latest move in a two decade saga over the legal standing of the small casino attached to a motel. The “proposed decision” was more favorable than not to the Lake Elsinore Casino, which also has operated as the Sahara Dunes Casino.

While Administrative Law Judge Theresa M. Brehl said the casino and its owners should not yet be awarded a permanent gambling license, she criticized California’s regulators for delays and not explaining to the owners everything they needed to apply for licenses.

One of the casino’s owners, Ted E. Kingston, should be allowed to resubmit his management firm’s application, Brehl said, while Kingston’s co-owner and second-cousin, Joseph O. Kingston, should not have to apply for a gambling license at all.

(Courtesy photo) Joseph O. Kingston, seen here in this undated photo. The "14" represents his status as a "numbered man" in the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group.

(Courtesy photo) Ted E. Kingston, seen here in this undated photo. The "102" represents his status as a "numbered man" in the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group.

Instead, Joseph Kingston should be allowed to transfer his stake to one of his cousins, Chad Benson, who then should apply for a gambling license, Brehl said.

Documents show how Benson and both Kingstons have ties to the Utah-based Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Latter-Day Church of Christ or the Kingston Group. Neither the applicants’ religion nor polygamy is discussed in Brehl’s proposed decision, dated June 7 and made public last week.

However, the 70-page document further describes the ties the casino, which sits between Los Angeles and San Diego, has to Utah.

Joseph Kingston is described as residing in Utah, and a Salt Lake City accountant and a West Jordan physician, both with their own ties to the Kingston Group, submitted affidavits in the licensing case. The accountant completed a valuation of the casino. The physician described Joseph Kingston’s medical conditions.

Joseph Kingston, 67, says he wants to transfer his half of the casino because he is suffering from diabetes and other ailments, according to Brehl’s proposed decision, which also says Joseph Kingston’s wife has suffered from breast cancer. Benson has worked as the casino’s chief operating officer since 2015.

“I asked for nothing in compensation as I do not believe my shares have much value,” Joseph Kingston wrote in a 2016 letter quoted in Brehl’s proposed decision, “and it is more important for me to do away with this large amount of financial obligation and allow me to free up my portfolio for my family."

California requires casinos, their owners and important officers to be licensed. Because of his declining health and desire to sell, Joseph Kingston has not submitted the necessary paperwork, and that was a major reason California’s gambling regulators sought to deny Lake Elsinore Casino a license, which could have forced the betting spot to close. Regulators also said Ted Kingston’s application was incomplete.

The case has dragged on since 1999, when the casino was issued its first provisional license. It has been renewed annually while regulators, in fits and stops described in Brehl’s writings, sought more information about Ted and Joseph Kingston.

There was confusion in 2016 over what paperwork had to be submitted and even about the legal name of the casino, Brehl wrote. Regulators also contended that Joseph Kingston couldn’t sell his shares in the casino if he wasn’t licensed to own one, but Brehl said that requirement was not in the law.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Lake Elsinore Econo Lodge Casino in Lake Elsinore, California. Monday, April 8, 2019.

Joseph Kingston is a full brother to Paul E. Kingston, leader of the Kingston Group. By not having to apply for a gambling license, Joseph Kingston will avoid having to disclose his finances, his business dealings or the names of his children, other people with whom he lives and his siblings.

The California Gambling Control Commission can reject Brehl’s proposed decision, and issue its own ruling. Either way, Lake Elsinore Casino can appeal. If the commission accept the recommendations by mid-September, Brehl gave all sides deadlines that would extend the case into 2020.

A California lawyer representing Lake Elsinore Casino and its owners did not return messages seeking comment Monday.

It’s unclear why Joseph Kingston believes his ownership stake has little value. While his casino lacks the glitz and floor space of a Las Vegas-resort, in recent years, Lake Elsinore Casino has undergone renovations that have included the addition of off-track horse wagering. The land and improvements alone are worth almost $4.5 million, according to the county assessor.

Kingston Group members often practice an old Mormon concept of a united order. In the Kingston Group version, a business will divert its income to the church, with the church then returning money the business needs to cover expenses.

Kurt Eggert, a professor at Chapman University School of Law, in Orange, Calif., and an expert on gambling law, said the administrative judge’s ruling paints California’s Bureau of Gambling Control as “inept and incompetent.” The bureau is the investigative arm of the state’s gaming regulators and was responsible for gathering the information required to grant or deny Lake Elsinore Casino a license.

“It’s much worse than just paperwork snafus,” Eggert said. “It’s just sitting on their hands.”

The delays appeared to have persuaded the judge that failing to provide information on the casino’s ownership was no big deal, Eggert added.

“The bureau’s job is to make sure bad people aren’t running casinos and here it took 20 years to enforce the requirement that the casino provide them information.”

Ted and Joseph Kingston have their supporters.

Lake Elsinore Mayor Steve Manos last week told The Press-Enterprise in nearby Riverside that he was pleased with the ruling and that his city would miss the jobs and revenue the casino generates if it had to close.

“Nobody can control who they’re related to,” Manos told the newspaper. “All of those concerns (about the Kingston Group) don’t appear to have anything to do with the license.”

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The Padres’ 16-year-old phenom, Ethan Salas, is catching two to three days a week in backfield games in Peoria, Ariz., and collecting at-bats throughout extended spring training’s five-days-a-week schedule. The rookie-level Arizona Complex League doesn’t start until the first week of June, but the organization appears to be prepping their big prize from the 2023 international signing period to make his professional debut before then at low Single-A Lake Elsinore.

It’s a move that figures to create some shuffling among the Padres’ catching prospects and Anthony Vilar could be a benefactor after a hot start with the Storm.

The 24-year-old catcher is hitting .341/.491/.707 with three homers, 10 RBIs and nearly as many walks (12) as strikeouts (13). More importantly, Vilar — an infielder at Miami when the Padres drafted him in the 15^th round in 2021 — has taken on a leading role in helping Lake Elsinore’s young pitching staff, led by Robby Snelling and Isaiah Lowe, hit the ground running while making their professional debuts in the California League.

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“He’s been a clear leader,” Padres assistant farm director Mike Daly, “on that Lake Elsinore team that’s off to a hot start.”

Vilar’s maturity, slow heartbeat, soft hands and quick feet all stood out at Miami as the Padres identified him as a candidate to catch in pro ball. He also has above-average arm strength, all of it helping him record pop times as low as 1.86 seconds early in an assignment that was a step back after Vilar spent all of 2022 at high Single-A Fort Wayne.

With a .226/.342/.321 batting line and two homers in 54 games last year with the TinCaps, Vilar was clearly behind at least Brandon Valenzuela in the organizational depth chart below Salas.

The 22-year-old Valenzuela remains a prospect in the organization, but he’s repeating Fort Wayne after hitting .209/.334/.348 last year and not doing much better with the bat this year (.217/.280/.348) while sharing time behind the plate with Colton Bender (.357/.438/.357) and Juan Zabala (.148/.294/.259).

As for Vilar, he’s splitting time behind the plate in Lake Elsinore with a 20-year-old Oswaldo Linares (.083/.214/.083) … but perhaps for not much longer.

Because sometimes a step back is what you need to take leaps forward.

“First and foremost, Anthony is a very mature guy and wants the opportunity to play,” Daly said. “So it was a very easy conversation (in spring training). He comes from a baseball family and he saw where the real opportunity to play was. Besides, where they start the year is on the organization and where they finish the year is on them.”

Thursday’s scoreboard

TRIPLE-A EL PASO (10-14)

DOUBLE-A SAN ANTONIO (9-8)

HIGH SINGLE-A FORT WAYNE (4-14)

LOW SINGLE-A LAKE ELSINORE (13-5)

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Whether you plan on lining your yard with decorations or you seek the perfect backdrop for a fall photo, pumpkin patches are a common ground for all who enjoy the spooky season.

RELATED | Utah's giant pumpkin record squashed by Brigham City grower

Many pumpkin patches offer other seasonal activities such as corn mazes, hay rides, petting zoos and scare zones.

MORE | Utah corn maze makes top 10 in the country

Looking for a pumpkin patch near you? Here is a list of locations across Utah, categorized by county in alphabetical order:

Box Elder County:

Ferry's Pumpkin Patch

Cache County:

Little Bear Bottoms Corn Maze

Davis County:

Black Island Farms

Merryweather Farm

Pack Farms

Duchesne County:

Bluebell Corn Maze at Water Hollow Ranch

Salt Lake County:

Cross E Ranch

Kuwahara’s Pumpkin Patch and Thriller Park

Mabey's Pumpkin Patch

Schmidt's Farm Market and Pumpkin Patch / Sunflower Maze

Sanpete County

Sunder Creek Farms

Beck Family Farms

Sevier County

Hansen's Pumpkin Patch

Utah County:

Cornbelly's Corn Maze & Pumpkin Fest

Glen Ray's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch

Jaker's Jack-O-Lanterns at Harward Farms

The Pumpkin Patch

Wilkerson Farm

Washington County:

Staheli Family Farm

Western Legacy Farm & Ranch

Weber County:

Cedar Crest Farm

Green Acres Family Dairy, Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze

Note: not every place to find pumpkins may be listed. Please call in advance to confirm hours of operation and availability.

While denying wrongdoing, the Utah-based faith settled its part of the California case for $1 million.

| Updated: April 28, 2023, 9:42 p.m.

Riverside, Calif. • A woman who was molested for years by her stepfather has been awarded $2.28 billion by a California jury in a lawsuit that also implicated her mother and the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which both parents were active, her attorneys announced.

The panel in Riverside County Superior Court awarded damages Tuesday to a woman described in court papers only as Jane Doe, who said she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather from age 5 until she was 14, according to an announcement by the law firm of Gary A. Dordick.

The lawsuit alleged that beginning in the 1980s, the stepfather sexually abused the girl. The assaults took place at their Lake Elsinore home and at events, meetings, and property of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the lawsuit said.

“These ongoing acts of abuse brought plaintiff to the brink of suicide,” according to the lawsuit.

In addition to the stepfather, the negligence and sexual abuse suit also named the Utah-based church and the woman’s mother. It alleged that the woman repeatedly told Latter-day Saint officials, including local lay bishops, about the sexual abuse but that they failed to report it to law enforcement in violation of church policy and also used “intimidation and shaming tactics” to keep her from telling anyone outside the church.

The Associated Press is not naming the stepfather or the mother to shield the identity of the victim. An email to the stepfather’s attorney seeking comment was not returned.

The stepfather was arrested in 1997 after Jane Doe told her high school basketball coach about the abuse, the suit said. He pleaded guilty to committing lewd acts with a child under age 14 and spent three years in state prison, according to the lawsuit.

While denying wrongdoing, the church settled its part of the lawsuit for $1 million in December, and the woman’s mother settled for $200,000 in February, according to the woman’s lawyers.

The stepfather failed to appear at trial on the first day of jury selection and withdrew his answer to the lawsuit rather than face a warrant for his arrest, and “accordingly, his attorney was not able to participate in the trial,” the law firm said in an email.

The jury awarded the woman $836 million in damages and $1.44 billion in punitive damages, according to the Los Angeles Times, a largely symbolic move and unlikely ever to be fully paid, since the stepfather was the only remaining defendant.

Moody graduate — and former Texas Longhorn — Michael Cantu made his minor league debut this week after the San Diego Padres assigned him to Advanced-A Lake Elsinore of the California League.

Cantu hit a home run May 28 in his debut with the Storm and is batting .333 (2-6) with one RBI in two games.

The catcher signed with the Padres organization in 2017 after leaving the Longhorns after his junior season and played in the Arizona Rookie League last summer.

Three current Moody alumni are playing in minor league baseball and Luis Flores plays for Sultanes de Monterey in Mexico.

More:These professional baseball players have ties to the Corpus Christi area

MLB

Cliff Pennington, Carroll, Cincinnati Reds

.138 BA, 4-29, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Rob Zastryzny, Calallen, Chicago Cubs

0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K, 1 BB

Anthony Banda, Sinton, Tampa Bay Rays (current)

1-0, 3.68 ERA, 14.2 IP, 12 H, 10 K, 3 BB

INTERNATIONAL

Logan Verrett, Calallen, NC Dinos (Changwon, Korea, KBO)

2-5, 6.49 ERA, 43.0 IP, 56 H, 36 K, 19 BB

Luis Flores, Moody, Sultanes de Monterey (Mexican League)

.167 BA, 7-42, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0 SB

MINOR LEAGUES

Anthony Banda, Sinton, Durham Bulls (AAA), Tampa Bay

4-3, 3.64 ERA, 42.0 IP, 43 H, 49 K, 18 BB

Jacob Dorris, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Fresno Grizzlies (AAA), Houston

2-0, 8.22 ERA, 15.1 IP, 18 H, 13 K, 10 BB

Cliff Pennington, Carroll, Round Rock Express (AAA), Texas (current)

.250, 10-40, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB

Rob Zastryzny, Calallen, Iowa Cubs (AAA), Chicago (current)

2-1, 4.56 ERA, 23.2 IP, 22 H, 21 K, 13 BB

Rudy Flores, Moody, Jackson Generals (AA), Arizona

.275 BA, 39-142, 7 HR, 25 RBI, 0 SB

Mike Franco, Moody, Montgomery Biscuits (AA), Tampa Bay

1-0, 2.16 ERA, 3-3 SV, 16.2 IP, 7 H, 20 K, 6 BB

Mike Franco, Moody, Durham Bulls (AAA), Tampa Bay (current)

0-0, 2.70 ERA, 10.0 IP, 8 H, 11 K, 6 BB

Wyatt Mathisen, Calallen, Altoona Curve (AA), Pittsburgh

.385 BA, 10-26, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB

Wyatt Mathisen, Calallen, Indianapolis Indians (AAA), Pittsburgh (current)

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Tyler Neslony, Calallen, Mississippi Braves (AA), Atlanta

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Jose Trevino, John Paul II, Frisco RoughRiders (AA), Texas

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Lucas Humpal, Flour Bluff, Frederick Keys (A), Baltimore (current)

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Lucas Humpal, Flour Bluff, Bowie Baysox (AA), Baltimore

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Michael Cantu, Moody, Lake Elsinore Storm (A), San Diego

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Courtney Hawkins, Carroll, Birmingham Barons, (AA), Chicago White Sox

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