DELAY GRANTED IN CITY'S CASE AGAINST CHURCH

A brief was granted Wednesday in court proceedings aimed at removing a
marijuana-smoking church from an abandoned Cambridge factory.

The City of Cambridge is trying to get the Church of the Universe out of
the old Kanmet foundry site in the Preston area, where it now has its
headquarters.

The city is asking Kitchener general division court to uphold Cambridge
bylaws that govern who can live on an industrial site.

The site is owned by john Long, but used by the church, which has made
marijuana-smoking a ritual.

On Wednesday, micheal Baldasaro and Walter Tucker, both reverend brothers
with the church, wearing their multi-colored hemp hats, argued against a
request for an adjournment by the city. They said the city doesn't even
have jurisdiction to launch the proceeding.

"All they really have is an illegal investigation by the fire department,"
Baldasaro said. "They lied to get on to the property. In reality, their
purpose is to get rid of the Church of the Universe."

At one point, tucker chastised the city's lawyer, Brian Law, for not
addressing him the way he prefers.

"It's Reverend Tucker, by the way," he told him. "I don't like to be
addressed as Mr. Tucker."

The pair were to be back in court this morning at 10a.m.

Neighbors near the factory have long been concerned about the state of the
property. But it could cost more than a million dollors to clean up
contaminated soil and demolish the building.

The church moved to Cambridge last year after being evicted from a Guelph
foundry that had been owned by Long and is now owned by the city.