Source: The Associated Press

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/html/5014-Panhandle_zoning_board_rejects_Wiccan_church.html

On November 8, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "Santa Rosa County's zoning board unanimously refused to let a Wiccan church meet in a residential neighborhood, a decision applauded by about 200 opponents. One opponent held up a Bible and pointed to it in front of about a dozen Pagans who attended the...

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/1103/02wiccans.html

On November 2, 2003 the Atlanta Journal-Constitution profiled Donna Passaro, an Atlanta Wiccan who celebrates the festiival of Samhain on Halloween each year. "'It's the highest holiday for us,' said Passaro, 'high priestess' of the Harvest Hearth coven in Norcross. 'Imagine the holiday of Christmas -- the trimming of the tree, the midnight...

Source: Forward

http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.10.31/living1.html

On October 31, 2003 Forward published an article on Jewish "witches," or individuals who "have a strong sense of Jewish identity but also practice magic, cast spells and tend to identify with 'goddess-directed' worship. Their beliefs run the gamut from strict monotheists to those who worship a pantheon of goddesses... their numbers could be in the hundreds. In September, Jewitchery.com site...

Source: Beliefnet

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/116/story_11615_1.html

On October 31, 2003 Beliefnet published an editorial by Selena Fox on her experiences as a Wiccan in rural Wisconsin. "At nightfall on October 31 we celebrate the Feast of the Dead in my household. I set a place at the kitchen table and invite our deceased loved ones and ancestors to be with us there in spirit... Later in the evening, and on several subsequent nights, I review family history...

Source: Heartland News

http://www.kfvs12.com/Global/story.asp?S=1503111&nav=8H3xIp1q

On October 31, 2003 the Heartland News reported that "Halloween is just around the corner, but for some people it's not just a time to dress up or go trick or treating; it's time to focus on a much more spiritual event. Wiccans are people who have earth based pagan beliefs, and part of a religion that's not only one of the fastest growing religions across the country, but also...

Source: Lodi News-Sentinel

http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2003/10/30/news/01_halloween_031030.txt

On October 31, 2003, the Lodi News-Sentinel reported that "the evolution of Halloween over hundreds of years has local religious leaders disagreeing whether Halloween violates the teachings of both Jesus Christ and the Bible. Pastor Loren Stacy of Lodi's Church of God (Seventh-day) says that Halloween violates Scripture. So does William Van Amber...

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44375-2003Oct30.html

On October 31, 2003 The Washington Post reported on a new book on Wiccans that applies social science techniques and unearths certain demographic patterns. "Typically, Wiccans are white, college-educated and middle class, according to 'Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States,' which polled 2,000 believers...

Source: The New York Times

Source: Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03300/234525.stm

On October 27, 2003 Post-Gazette reported that many children of conservative Christian, Jewish or Muslim religious traditions will opt out of Halloween parties this year because they view Halloween as a day that commemorates the devil or encourages pagan worship. "'There is a cultural war over Halloween,' said Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center who has become a national expert...

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3203687.stm

On October 22, 2003 the BBC News reported that "a Norwegian woman setting up shop as a witch has been awarded a government grant worth 53,000 kroner ($7,500; �4,500). Her business, Forest Witch Magic Consulting, will tell fortunes, teach magic tricks at corporate seminars, and offer potions and creams to cure for problems ranging from sleeplessness to bad habits.

A condition of the grant is that...

Source: Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows News

Source: The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=61197&ran=105263

On October 18, 2003 The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star published an editorial in which Michael Murphy discussed the unease with which many pagans celebrate Halloween. "Most Pagans will, as I do, stay at home and find private ways to celebrate," he writes. "It isn't that we don't want to participate publicly in the occasion; we...

Source: Des Moines Register

http://www.dmregister.com/business/stories/c4789010/22452013.html

On October 16, 2003 Des Moines Register profiled Jo VonStein, a Wiccan practicioner and the owner of a Des Moines store specializing in Wiccan Practices. VonStein claims that her eclectic methods of counseling and teaching are today reaching a broad spectrum of Des Moines residents, with Iowa residents embracing her philosophy. "Some of the people who come in are...

Source: The Sylva Herald

http://www.thesylvaherald.com/a-pagans_100903.htm

On October 9, 2003 The Sylva Herald reported that "religious debate returned to Sylva last week as a local Baptist preacher and pagan high priestess traded volleys during an Oct. 2 meeting of Sylva's town board. Speaking for the pagans, High Priestess Lianna Costantino-Cardon of the Sylvan Hearth Pagan Temple refuted statements the Rev. Larry Perry made about her group during the board's Sept. 4...