did the Kingstons and their family businesses inspire BIG LOVE?

[NVMojo]

WORKING FOR

THE COMPANY


Salt Lake-based Standard Restaurant and Mountain Coin operate in seven Western states. Items for sale at Standard's Las Vegas facility range from napkins and cups to broilers and pizza ovens. Brochures tout a variety of brand name offerings.

The Clark County School District has spent $35,000 with the company since 1995 for a variety of equipment, with the largest single purchase, $15,000, going to buy three freezers for school cafeterias.

School district spokeswoman Pat Nelson said school officials were unaware of the company's polygamous ties until she was contacted by the Review-Journal.

"Standard Restaurant, who even knew?" Nelson asked, noting that the district does not conduct background checks before buying such items. Besides, she added, "These are really small purchases."

Standard's Las Vegas boss declined to be interviewed for this story.

Next door sits the offices of Mountain Coin, the nation's 25th largest supplier of video arcade games with gross 2002 sales of $37 million, according to an industry trade publication.

Mountain Coin and its sister company, Able Amusement, tout business relationships with Sam's Town, the Stardust, Green Valley Ranch, Sunset Station, Luxor, Excalibur and Circus Circus. The trail is often murky between the suppliers and the businesses that use their games, with third parties often selling or operating Mountain Coin products unknowingly in casino arcades.

Rob Stillwell, a vice president for Sam's Town and Stardust operator Boyd Gaming, said company officials were unaware of the polygamous background of Mountain Coin and Standard Restaurant, but they intend to look into their business dealings with the Kingstons' operations.

"If that's the case we won't do business with them anymore," Stillwell said. "We have too much at stake."

There's a small family presence at the Kingston's Southern Nevada operations. A leading family member, Elden Kingston, runs the businesses, but the vast majority of the staff positions are held by nonfamily members who know little of the Kingstons' lifestyle. Elden Kingston failed to return a phone message seeking comment.

whole story here ...

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Nov-02-Sun-2003/news/22438763.html

[NVMojo]

1. sigh ...

http://www.polygamyinfo.com/frontdoor.htm

[MADem]

2. Been going on for YEARS, and they don't do a thing about it

http://www.xmission.com/~plporter/lds/kingston.htm

Money talks, I guess:

Their Utah-based empire is huge, however, and spans at least six states.

A check of public documents in Salt Lake County alone of business and real estate holdings reveals an astonishing array of enterprises. Department of Commerce records show at least 48 businesses affiliated with the Kingston family. According to property tax records, they are connected with 23 commercial and residential properties in Salt Lake County valued at $3.3 million listed under a Kingston entity called "World Enterprises." (Other properties likely are held under other names.)

Two locations serve as primary headquarters for many Kingston operations; a tidy but nondescript brick building it 3212 S. State St., and a nearby concrete warehouse-line structure at 53 W. Angelo Ave.

Chances are many Salt Lakers have unknowingly patronized the extended polygamous clans' companies, which include vending machine businesses, an ice distributor, accounting and financial firms, grocery and clothing stores, a fitness spa, and even a preschool.

Among the businesses: Standard Restaurant Equipment Co.; Fidelity Funding Corp.; Fountain of Youth Health and Athletic Club; East Side Market; Mountain Coin Machines Distributors; American Digital Systems; Family Stores True Value; and Little Red School house Montessori (see list on page 21).

Adding to the Kingstons's coffers are farms and businesses in northern Utah, and and holdings in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, California and Nevada -- including business associations with casinos, the Observer's source said.

One of Kingstons's most profitable enterprises is a bituminous coal and lignite mine in Huntington (Carbon County), which at one time brought in revenues of $ 1 million a month, according to the observer's source.