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A Boy Scout leader from Boonton suffered bites and scratches after being attacked by a bear while hiking at Splitrock Reservoir Sunday afternoon with three young scouts, authorities said. Christopher Petronino, 50, managed to fend off the black bear using a rock hammer after the animal pulled him into a small cave. Petronino and the scouts were later able to draw the bear out of the cave with food, Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Bob Considine said in a statement. The group had set out to hike on the trails that cover the 625-acre wilderness, and they came along the...

A Boy Scout troop leader was mauled by a bear after he and three Scouts stumbled upon the animal in northern New Jersey on Sunday, the Rockaway Township Police Department said. The three Scouts accompanying him were unharmed, officials said. The Boy Scout leader, Christopher Petronino, took the three Scouts to a cave at Split Rock Reservoir in Morris County, which is about 25 miles west of New York City. The 50-year-old had known about the cave since the 1980s but had never witnessed a bear using it before, according to CNN affiliate WCBS. When Petronino entered the cave Sunday...

They call their group "The Unicorns." The six young girls teach themselves things they didn't learn in the Girl Scouts, like building a campfire. "I got jealous of what my brother got to do because he's a Boy Scout ...," said 10-year-old Ella Jacobs. Jacobs and her friend, Allie Westover, decided they were more interested in what the boys were doing. So last fall, they started participating in activities alongside a local Boy Scout troop. "I really like competitions and I really enjoy competitive nature and also working in teams and so being in Boy Scouts gave me the opportunity...

Four months after the Boy Scouts of America made history by allowing gay adults to become leaders, its local chapter in Northern California is facing new pressure from girls, asking to become full members. They call their group "The Unicorns." The six young girls teach themselves things they didn't learn in the Girl Scouts, like building a campfire. "I got jealous of what my brother got to do because he's a Boy Scout ...," said 10-year-old Ella Jacobs. Jacobs and her friend, Allie Westover, decided they were more interested in what the boys were doing. So last fall, they started...

An ex-Boy Scout leader has been sentenced to prison for possessing child pornography. Gerrett Conover, 50, of Gloucester County has received a sentence of 20 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for the online distribution of pornographic material involving minors. Following a fivemonth investigation, Conover was arrested in September 2012 after he was stopped attempting to enter the United States from Canada. He was found to be in possession of a computer containing more than 50 images of child pornography, most of which graphically depicted sexual acts involving young boys.

BOYSTOWN — Two months after the Boy Scouts of America lifted the ban on openly gay parents and adult leaders, the Center on Halsted is poised to become the first LGBTQ community center to partner with the organization. The center, 3656 N. Halsted St., is now looking for Scout leaders and mentors for a Boy Scout pack for first- through fifth-grade students. A Girl Scout troop has been stationed at the center for three years. As the chartered organization, Center on Halsted will facilitate programming and leadership. New scouts will likely be a mix of people "drawn here because of...

A 13-year-old put his Boy Scout training to the test and helped rescue his father after he was hit by a refrigerator-sized boulder during a backpacking trip in Idaho last Monday. A week into what was supposed to be a 12-day trip at Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, a large boulder fell on David Finlayson, 52, knocking him down 20 or 30 feet, NBC affiliate KTVB reported. The elder Finlayson broke his left arm and leg. He also started to lose blood because of gash in his shin. “At first I was freaking out a little bit, but after...

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement Wednesday from the Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles regarding the Church’s relationship with the Boy Scouts of America: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appreciates the positive contributions Scouting has made over the years to thousands of its young men and boys and to thousands of other youth. As leaders of the Church, we want the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to succeed in its historic mission to instill leadership skills and high moral standards in...

The Mormon church will continue to support the Boy Scouts of America despite the group’s decision to allow gay troop leaders, say church leaders. After a month of deliberation, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – which is the nation’s largest sponsor of Boy Scout units and continues to restrict gay and lesbian members from participating fully in church activities and leadership – said in a statement Wednesday that it would maintain its 102-year-old association with Scouting following the BSA’s controversial July decision to let gay men lead Scout units. The announcement, which comes after the BSA assured...

After a month of deliberation following a vote by the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America to allow openly gay Scout leaders, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that they will go forward with the faith's 102-year association with Scouting, according to a statement released Wednesday morning. The statement came from the church's Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who said the BSA assured the church it would be able to appoint Scout leaders based on the faith's values. "In the resolution adopted on July 27, 2015, and in...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (UPI) -- Despite a July vote to end a ban on openly gay adult leaders, former gay Boy Scout leader Greg Bourke was still prohibited from being in the high ranks of a Louisville church-sponsored troop. Bourke, who was active in pushing for the legalization of same-sex unions, was told Tuesday that he could not be a Boy Scout leader for a troop in a Catholic parish named Our Lady of Lourdes. This comes after the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board's decision on July 27 to lift its ban on openly gay adult leaders and employees,...

August 6, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- The pro-homosexual “marriage” group that sued to redefine marriage in Utah is preparing to establish a Boy Scout troop open to gay leaders, making the announcement just over a week after the Boy Scouts of America lifted its ban on homosexual leaders. The head of Restore Our Humanity made the announcement at a Tuesday press conference, saying that welcoming gay leaders could create new interest in the Boy Scouts and that the new Utah troop could be a model for the future. "I think it's important for us to do this now," Mark Lawrence said....

The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck has ordered parishes in western North Dakota to sever sponsorship ties with the Boy Scouts of America following the group's decision to lift its ban on gay adult leaders. "I cannot permit our Catholic institutions to accept and participate directly or indirectly in any organization which has policies and methods which contradict the authoritative moral teachings of the Catholic Church," Bishop David Kagan wrote Monday in a letter to parishioners. The Boy Scouts last week ended its ban on gay adult leaders, while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion...

The BSA decided that it profited the organization to lose its soul so it could gain the world. Its punishment will be, I suspect, that it will end up without either. There has been much written about the Boy Scouts of America’s recent acceptance of openly homosexual scout masters. The organization has been raked over the coals by the right and accused of offering only a half-measure by the left. But few appreciate what the BSA has actually done — and the BSA has no idea what it has done to itself. Scouting has never been just about tying knots...

The Boy Scouts of America may experience a severe backlash from church sponsors following its recent vote to approve openly gay scout leaders. A national organization boasting over 2.6 million members, many of the BSA's more than 37,000 troops come from churches that officially state that homosexuality is a sin. These include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the United Methodist Church, and the Southern Baptist Convention. Roger S. Oldham, spokesman for the SBC, told The Christian Post that Southern Baptist churches have been cutting ties with the BSA since 2013, when the youth organization voted to allow...

On July 27, Robert M. Gates, president of the Boy Scouts of America, announced that the National Executive Board ratified a resolution ending the ban on openly gay adult leaders and employees. He admitted that the new policy was necessitated by "social, political, and legal changes," and that the "staggering cost" of more litigation was a major factor in the decision. Will this ruling put an end to the lawsuits? Not a chance. Gay militants won't stop until the religious exemptions allowed under the new policy are stricken. "Religious chartered organizations may continue to use religious beliefs as a criterion...

If the Boy Scouts of America approve gay adult leaders, as they are expected to do late Monday (July 27), does that mean troops based at churches may end up in court if they ban gay Scoutmasters? Scout officials predicted that would be “unlikely” in a document they released earlier this month to BSA members and leaders. “We live in a litigious society, and frivolous lawsuits are threatened and filed every day,” reads the 14-page memo from the Boys Scouts’ law firm, Hughes Hubbard & Reed. “However, any lawsuit challenging the religious requirements in a Scouting unit chartered by a...

Fresh off the heels of the Boy Scouts of America’s decision Monday to end its ban on gay adult leaders, Oklahomans for Equality has announced its intention to form a local Cub Scout pack. Operating out of the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, 621 E. Fourth St., the organization will charter the troop through Tulsa’s Boy Scouts chapter, the Indian Nations Council. The interest is there — both from youth participants and adults taking part in its leadership — and now it’s just a matter of getting all the paperwork in order and approval from the local council, said Andrew...

Yesterday, the Nation Board of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) ended their ban on gay leaders. This brings up concern for churches who host BSA meetings in their facilities. The Mormon Church voiced concern over the new policy and was able to come to an agreement with the BSA and the new membership policy. Under the new policy, any church who hosts BSA meetings and believe marriage is between a man and a woman will be able to choose the leaders for their local units. They can choose leaders who share their beliefs on marriage and can “[restrict]…positions to...

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement today after a vote on a policy change by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board to admit openly gay leaders: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is deeply troubled by today’s vote by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board. In spite of a request to delay the vote, it was scheduled at a time in July when members of the Church’s governing councils are out of their offices and do not meet. When the leadership of the Church...