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Yosemite National Park, Calif. (AP) -- A 12-year-old Boy Scout from Modesto died over the weekend after falling from a sheer granite cliff in Yosemite National Park. A spokeswoman for the park says the boy died Saturday afternoon when he fell about 300 feet after wandering away from his group that was hiking toward Upper Yosemite Fall. . . . the accident happened when the boy and another Scout started hiking in front of their group and ventured off the trail toward a steep drop above Columbia Rock.

Philly's War on the Boy Scouts http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120312309480173061.html http://tinyurl.com/3cmtwp By KEVIN FERRIS February 16, 2008; Page A10 Philadelphia As Michael Nutter was sworn in as the city's 98th mayor last month, he called for a new wave of public service to clean up drug-infested neighborhoods. If he is serious about renewing volunteerism, he'll start by putting an end to the city's campaign against the Boy Scouts. On May 31, the Cradle of Liberty Council, the local Boy Scout chapter, will be evicted from its headquarters on 22nd and Winter Streets -- a space it has occupied since 1928. The eviction isn't...

Boy Scout Week Salute: Scouts teaches young people leadership and wisdom http://westlibertyindex.com/article.php?viewID=1396 by Tom Norris · February 06, 2008 With Boy Scout Week upon us, I thought I’d do away with the usual facts-n-figures and talk straight about the organization. Some will read this and think, “That’s nice, but who cares?” One youth club is as good as the next; it doesn’t really matter. But at what point do the things we do start to matter? I suspect this is determined by the degree to which it influences our life. After 14 years in the service, most of that as...

Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies militaryand the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Happy 98th Birthday, Boy Scouts of America The Value of Scouting What Is Cub Scouting? Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

Boy Scout-produced documentary highlights extraordinary Central Texans http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/03/0203scouts.html http://tinyurl.com/2oddh6 'Believe It. Live It' showcases groups, individuals who personify the Scout Law By Patrick George AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Sunday, February 03, 2008 A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. For almost 100 years, members of the Boy Scouts of America have been taught to memorize the traits that make up the Scout Law. Last summer, a group of nine local Scouts sought to find out what those values really mean by creating a film about the people who personify them in Austin. On...

Is the Business Software Alliance really having an impact on software piracy? Do they often punish businesses that are trying to play by the rules?In many IT organizations, the Business Software Alliance’s three-letter acronym is akin to a four-letter word. Known best as the software licensing watchdog for 30 major technology vendors including Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk and Apple, the BSA collects millions of dollars in damages each year from errant businesses who fail to use properly licensed software or document that their software is legit. 2008 marks the group’s 20th anniversary. But after two decades, questions remain: Is the BSA...

Last fall, Joseph White from St. David chose to help build a facility, Care for the Horses, for his Eagle Scout project. The Scouts arrived early in the morning and worked hard all day. Numerous dump trucks of brush were taken to the landfill. In all, two parking areas were created, making it easier for visitors to park and for moving of trucks and horse trailers. Two rattlesnakes also were found and killed. The Boy Scouts who participated, as pictured above, are Daniel Elliason, Paul Kartchner, Phillip Kartchner, Michael Grapp, Joseph White, Joel Kartchner, Joshua White, Jared White and Jared...

Kershaw County (WLTX) - A former member of the Indian Water Council, a Boy Scouts organization in Kershaw County, has been arrested on sex charges. Elgin Police Chief Harold Brown says Russell Spitzer, 49, has been charged with communicating obscene material to a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, criminal sexual assault with intent to commit and criminal solicitation of a minor. He's been denied bond on the charges. According to investigators, the incidents happened between October 2006 and January of 2007 while Spitzer was a leader in the group. Brown says the abuse started when the victim...

The youth of Philadelphia are in danger. There are as many as 3,900 homeless families in Philadelphia. Only about half of Philadelphia ninth-graders graduate from high school within four years, and last year's state standardized math and reading tests came back to 11th graders in Philadelphia public schools with 70 percent of scores below proficient. In 2006, 1,030 young Philadelphians between the ages of 7 and 24 were shot; 179 kids were murdered. On such a battlefield, it would make sense for the City of Philadelphia to partner with churches and non-profit organizations to provide after-school programs, youth sports leagues,...

Scouts to earn skateboard badgehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7183888.stmLast Updated: Saturday, 12 January 2008, 00:50 GMT A revamp of the scout movement will allow boys and girls to earn badges for skills such as skateboarding, making a fruit salad and racing quad bikes. The Scout Association said 40 new badges marked the largest ever overhaul of the activities of the movement. Chief Scout Peter Duncan said: "Young people today have a larger choice than ever before of activities to fill their spare time with." The new badges will be launched this weekend at the scouts' winter camp. The event for the 500,000-strong movement is...

CINCINNATI -- A grand jury indicted three people in connection with the armed robbery last month of Boy Scouts at a Christmas tree sale. Prosecutors said Friday that Kenneth Hodge, 19, David Keeling, 19, and Nashon Wallace, 20, would face charges in the Dec. 3 robbery outside Tom’s Drive-Thru in North College Hill. The Boy Scouts, ages 13 and 11 years old, said they were selling Christmas trees in the parking lot along West Galbraith Road shortly before closing when three men approached, with one carrying a sawed-off shotgun. The boys said they thought the men were joking until one...

DALLAS — As far as the Boy Scouts of America is concerned, knowing how to confront a bully is now as important as mastering a slip knot. For the first time in the 97-year history of the nation's largest youth organization, newcomers must show they have learned Scout-approved ways to avoid being pushed around and called names, if they want to advance through the ranks. Shaken down for your lunch money? Tell the bully how it hurts. Called a crater face? The 2008 Boy Scout Handbook recommends this comeback: "So what if I have a face full of zits. What's...

On you tube from when he ran against Ted Kennedy

Attention all Scout Leaders New Boy Scout Rank Requirements Effective January 1, 2008 The National Youth Protection Committee recommended additions to Boy Scout rank requirements that were approved and become effective January 1, 2008. These changes will help us advance the importance of Youth Protection training beyond the initial Boy Scout joining requirements, and keep youth informed and actively engaged in understanding the key elements of personal safety and protection. TENDERFOOT RANK Revised requirement 9: Explain the importance of the buddy system as it relates to your personal safety on outings and in your neighborhood. Describe what a bully is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEOJNw4lmlI

Finding an organization more all-American than the Boy Scouts would be hard. Take it from someone who is blessed to have not one, but two sons achieve the distinction of becoming Eagle Scouts -- this organization is up there with baseball and apple pie. According to its charter, it exists to “promote … the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others … and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance and kindred virtues.” Since 1910, that’s exactly what the Boy Scouts have been doing. Thousands of men today in positions of leadership, from soldiers to salesmen, began learning...

The war on the Boy Scouts By Al Knight Article Last Updated: 12/18/2007 07:45:49 PM MST Some topics are best left both out of sight and out of mind. The American Civil Liberties Union's war on the Boy Scouts is not one of them. The ACLU, in a rational world, might well have been expected to champion the First Amendment rights of an organization like the Boy Scouts. After all, the First Amendment to the Constitution (so dear to the ACLU) protects both speech and the right to associate. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 upheld the right of the...

PHILADELPHIA, December 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Philadelphia council of the Boy Scouts of America will lose the lease on its historic premises for its refusal to bow to pressure from the homosexual lobby to accept homosexual members and leaders. The city has told the Scouts they will be evicted if they cannot come up with US $200,000 a year "market value" rent for the land on which their building sits. Until now, the Scouts had paid a nominal $1 per year lease fee although the youth organisation had originally owned the premises in 1929. The famous Beaux Arts style...

For three years the Philadelphia council of the Boy Scouts of America held its ground. It resisted the city’s request to change its discriminatory policy toward gay people despite threats that if it did not do so, the city would evict the group from a municipal building where the Scouts have resided practically rent free since 1928. Hailed as the birthplace of the Boy Scouts, the Beaux Arts building is the seat of the seventh-largest chapter of the organization and the first of the more than 300 council service centers built by the Scouts around the country over the past...

Boy Scouts of America and all off its emblems and insignia are copyright protected. If you are a Scoutmaster, Cubmaster, an anindividual, or a business that Silkscreens hats, neckerchiefs, hats or embroider any item with scout insignia please see below.Boy Scouts of America is waiving the $250 application fee for all new Tier IV (National council and local council supplier) applications received from June 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007. Please be sure to send in a full and complete application package along with samples, otherwise your application will not be reviewed. If you have requested an application packet prior...

A couple of Boy Scout troops lost more than $1,500 worth of Christmas trees to thieves between Nov. 19 and Friday. Troop 1390 out of Dale City and Troop 1396 out of Lake Ridge set up shop every year in the lot in front of the SunTrust Bank in the Forestdale Plaza on Dale Boulevard. The Scouts generally get a semi-truck load of balsam firs from Nova Scotia, said Doug Doerr, the scoutmaster for Troop 1390. This year someone stole 34 of the 300 trees the Scouts ordered. "We have never had a situation like this," said Doerr, who has...

The city of Philadelphia is threatening to end a nearly 80-year building agreement with the nation’s third Boy Scouts chapter if the group doesn’t change its policy to accommodate gay employees. All members of the local Scouts chapter, which operates as the Cradle of Liberty Council, must take the Scout Oath and Law in which they promise to do their duty to God and to be morally straight, as well as to be clean in their thoughts, words and deeds. While the organization does not inquire about sexual orientation at the time of membership, the group bars an avowed homosexual...

At Qualcomm Stadium, to which thousands of evacuees fled throughout the day Monday to escape approaching fires, the hazy and acrid air pinched the throat. Despite those reminders of the nearby inferno, the stadium seemed an oasis of order.  Hundreds of volunteers and city workers stacked up towers of pizza boxes, water bottles and blankets. Steaming cups of coffee were on offer as well as free massages and reflexology sessions.  A clown twisted balloons for children, several autism specialists were available to give parents of disabled children a break, and an electric guitarist jammed with his speaker turned low. -snip-Carl...

Big-hearted Boy Scouts collecting donations for care packages for U.S. troops are still scratching their heads after being sent packing from polling stations when Cambridge officials ruled their generous effort “political.” “We just wanted to make a lot of troops happy,” said Scout Patrick O’Connor, 16. “I was devastated that someone would think to take (the donation boxes) out,” he said. O’Connor of West Cambridge was one of the Scouts who wanted to collect toiletries, magazines, candy and other items for care packages after one of his relatives was injured in an IED explosion while serving in Iraq. “He mentioned...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2007 – A local Boy Scouts of America organization recognized Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates for his lifelong devotion to scouting during an award ceremony here yesterday. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates thanks members of the Boy Scouts of America National Capital Area Council after receiving the organization’s Citizen of the Year award at their annual dinner in Washington, D.C., Nov. 15, 2007. Photo by Cherie A. Thurlby  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates received the “Citizen of the Year” award, bestowed annually by the National Capital Area Council. Since 1968, the council has recognized...

They were just trying to collect donations for American troops. But the Boy Scouts end up getting busted by the City of Cambridge. All their boxes were taken down at polling stations for being too "pro-war." FOX25's Ted Daniel reports from Cambridge with details.

Neighbors sue, saying charity shooting events at the Scout ranch are noisy and pose a risk to residents and wildlife. The Denver Area Council of Boy Scouts of America and a gun club were slapped with a lawsuit Wednesday over charity shooting events at the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch in Elbert County. Neighbors to the 3,300-acre camp filed the suit claiming three events last summer were noisy and represented a risk to local residents, wildlife and property values. "They just want to be able to inhabit their property in peace and quiet," said the neighbors' attorney, Lorri Salyards. The council...

Calling him “a demon,” a Bucks County judge Monday sentenced a former Boy Scout troop leader to 10 to 20 years in a state prison for attempting to arrange a sexual encounter with a 12-year-old boy. County Judge Albert Cepparulo said 52-year-old David Mayberry, who is HIV-positive, knew his actions could have been a “death sentence” to the child. “A predator you are, in the surest sense of the word,” Cepparulo said. “You are a danger to our youth and need to be removed from society.” (snip) Mayberry was arrested in November 2005 when he showed up at a Bensalem...

Perry book to tout Scout values http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA103107.10B.PerryBook.31f57c2.html http://tinyurl.com/2a97dx 10/30/2007 10:11 PM CDT Peggy Fikac, Express-News AUSTIN — Add another title to Gov. Rick Perry's resume: author of a book defending Boy Scout values against "lawsuit-happy do-gooders." The GOP governor, who proudly wears his Eagle Scout pin on his lapel, has written — with some assistance — a book on scouting that paints the organization as a leading indicator in the battle between right and wrong. The book isn't due until February, but Perry described it in remarks Tuesday, referring to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a lawsuit brought by...

Former Boy Scout troop leader David Mayberry was sentenced for having unprotected sex with a 14-year-old boy. Mayberry, 52, committed the crime knowing he was HIV-positive. A teary Mayberry cried in court when he saw the more than a dozen family members and friends there to support him. The Montgomery County man, a former Boy Scout leader, admitted to soliciting a 14-year-old online. The two met in a parking lot where the boy performed a sex act on Mayberry. Prosecutors said the crime was made more horrific because Mayberry is HIV-positive and he knew his health status when he met...

FOR FOUR YEARS the architect of the U.S. Capitol has censored letters from constituents by removing political and religious messages. That outrageous policy was halted by a 17-year-old Ohio Boy Scout originally from New Hampshire. Andrew Larochelle of Dayton, Ohio, whose grandfather Marcel is an Army veteran from Manchester, wanted to celebrate his attainment of the rank of Eagle Scout by giving his grandfather a flag that had been flown over the Capitol. He wrote this message to go on the certificate: "In honor of my grandfather Marcel Larochelle, and his dedication and love of God, country, and family." Well,...

Prompted by opposition to the Boy Scouts' rule disqualifying homosexuals as troop leaders, Philadelphia has forced the city's local chapter to pay fair-market rent of $200,000 a year for its city-owned headquarters. As WND reported in June, Philadelphia's city council voted to renege on a 1928 ordinance allowing the Cradle of Liberty Council to have its headquarters in a building on a parcel of public land "in perpetuity" for $1 a year. The city argues it can't rent public property for a nominal sum to any group that discriminates. City officials in San Francisco and Boston have made similar decisions...

The Boy Scouts of America's refusal to bend its rules to permit gay scouts will cost the organization's local chapter $200,000 a year if it wishes to keep its headquarters in a city-owned building on Logan Square. Representatives of the Boy Scouts of America's Cradle of Liberty Council were notified that to remain in their 79-year-old landmark headquarters, they needed to pay the city a "fair market" rent, Fairmount Park Commission president Robert N.C. Nix said yesterday. Currently, the rent is $1 a year....

God is Back on U.S. Flag Certificates Tuesday , October 16, 2007 By L.A. Holmes WASHINGTON — God is here to stay, say members of Congress who on Tuesday presented a 17-year-old Eagle Scout with a corrected version of a certificate that accompanied a flag that he purchased to fly over the U.S. Capitol. Andrew LaRochelle was the first to raise questions about the Architect of the Capitol policy that censored the word “God” out of certificates verifying the flag's authenticity. The flags are purchased and flown at constituents' requests, and include personal messages that until last week could not...

10/4/2007 - BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- Thousands of Boy Scouts from across the northern California region came to Beale Air Force Base Sept. 28 to 30 to celebrate 100 years of scouting. The event was a cooperative effort to bring more than 6,500 scouts and leaders to the base for a weekend of camping and activities. "We're very appreciative ... that we are able to do this and have been allowed on base," said James Martin, the scout executive for the Boy Scouts of America's Golden Empire Council. "It's been phenomenal. We couldn't have asked for anything...

(AgapePress) - A conservative spokesman in California says a recent vote by the San Diego City Council shows that many people may be fed up with the assaults the Boy Scouts have endured recently. More than 25,000 Boy Scouts in the San Diego area will still be able to use a camp that the organization was in danger of being excluded from because of the Scouts' ban on homosexuals for membership and leadership positions. By a vote of 6-3, the San Diego City Council earlier this week approved an agreement which will let the Scouts lease facilities at Balboa Park ...

The Boy Scout oath says a Scout must keep himself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight, and mostly importantly, be prepared to help other people at all times. Three Sahuarita Boy Scouts honored these principles when they aided in the rescue of a Tucson woman earlier this month who had become ill while hiking in Bear Canyon. The group, which consisted of 11-year-olds Justin Edwards, Daniel Gay and Tristan Scott, and leaders Jeremy Baldwin, Steve Gay and Cade Walton, was hiking in the Seven Falls area when they came across 65-year-old Connie McIntee, who was suffering from severe dehydration....

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said if elected president he would decline the position of Honorary Chairman of the Boy Scouts of America because of that organization’s policy barring participation by openly gay males, he said at a Democratic presidential debate Wednesday night.</p>

Seeking to flip a Republican Senate seat, the Muslim American Society used Boy and Girl Scout troops last year as part of a massive get-out-the-vote campaign targeting Muslim voters in Virginia and elsewhere. National leaders at the Boy and Girl Scouts of America say they've never heard of using Scout troops in such political activity and it violates Scout policy. They promised to look into the MAS program. MAS Executive Director Mahdi Bray isn't keeping the fact that he tapped Scouts to run phone banks a secret. In fact, he's bragging about it. And while he claims the calls were...

SIERRA VISTA — Boy Scout leader James Larsen of the Catalina Council’s Cochise District made the trip last month to the 100th anniversary of Scouting jamboree in southern England. The theme of the Scouting’s century celebration was “One World, One Promise.” Larsen said about 36,000 scouts and adult leaders attended the event to join in the spirit international unity. Six scouts from the Catalina Council went, all from the Tucson area. On Aug. 1, 1907, Robert Baden-Powell organized the first Scouting for Boys camping event at Poole Harbour in southern England. It is recognized as the origin of the worldwide...

Old-school skills boys can learn http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzMTMmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxODg3MDcmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3 http://tinyurl.com/2b5oqa Sunday, September 2, 2007 By JIM BECKERMAN STAFF WRITER Do you know how to ... Skim stones? Build a go-cart? Hunt fossils? Make a periscope? Recognize cloud formations? Fish? Fold a paper airplane? Tie a knot? Use a slingshot? Erect a treehouse? If you're male, age 45 or older, chances are the answer is yes. Or was, once. And if you're under 45 ...? Well, maybe you know how to build a Web page. "The Dangerous Book for Boys," by British brothers Conn and Hal Iggulden, created a minor sensation in England last...

The Washington state supreme court has forced the Boy Scouts of America to turn over "ineligible volunteer" files that revealed a sexual abuse problem among Scout leaders far greater than the organization previously admitted. Although justices ruled that the files themselves would not be made public, attorneys said the Boy Scouts "have ejected at least 5,100 adult leaders nationwide for sexual abuse allegations since 1946," according to the Seattle Times. In the past 15 years, the organization has kicked out leaders for abuse allegations at a rate of one every other day. The ruling stemmed from a 2003 suit filed...

Scouts Nationwide to Compete for 100th Anniversary Logo http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-27-2007/0004652077 http://tinyurl.com/37d52o Once-in-a-Lifetime Design Contest Celebrates Boy Scouts of America's Coming 2010 Milestone DALLAS, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Calling all Scouts! Nearly three million Scouting youth from every corner of the country are invited to participate in a special contest launched today by the Boy Scouts of America to design the new logo that will showcase BSA's upcoming 100th anniversary. Centered on the theme "Celebrating the Adventure. Continuing the Journey," the winning logo design will be chosen by a select panel of judges for use as the official symbol of the 100th...

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.675 as follows: (30 ILCS 105/5.675 new) Sec. 5.675. The Boy Scout and Girl Scout Fund. Section 10. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by adding Section 3-664 as follows: (625 ILCS 5/3-664 new) Sec. 3-664. Boy Scout and Girl Scout license plates. (a) The Secretary, upon receipt of an application made in the form prescribed by the Secretary, may issue special registration plates designated to be Boy Scout and Girl Scout plates....

With national enrollment down nearly 10 percent since 1998, the Boy Scouts looked to Latino communities to help reverse their plummeting numbers and the new source seems to be working

The Boy Scouts of America recently tapped into a new vein of American youth, launching programs in Latino communities across the nation. With national enrollment down nearly 10 percent since 1998, the Boy Scouts looked to Latino communities to help reverse their plummeting numbers and the new source seems to be working

Youngsters celebrating the 100th birthday of the scouting movement have been banned from eating burgers and bangers - because they might offend youngsters of other religions. And the scouts have been banned from having campfires and instead have to sit round a potplant - because of safety fears. The traditional camping food made way way for vegetarian dishes - a hundred years after Scout founder Lord Baden-Powell took his first group of 20 boys to the great outdoors. The 1907 boys caught rabbits and cooked them on an open fire on Brownsea Island, in Poole Harbour, Dorset. But in 2007,...

Scouting the future http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2158120.ece http://tinyurl.com/2abldd July 29, 2007 Hal Iggulden, co-author of The Dangerous Book for Boys, believes the Scouts – 100 years after they were founded – can solve the crisis in 21st century manhood Roland White In a school playground way back in the 1960s I made the first significant moral choice of my life. My best friend had asked me if I’d come to a meeting of his Cub Scout pack: just to see what it was like. On the other hand, a girl in our class also wanted to know whether I’d be at all interested...

FORT MYERS, Fla.: Decades after he finished the requirements to earn the rank, an 88-year-old man was honored as an Eagle Scout on Saturday, making him possibly the oldest person to ever collect the honor. Walter Hart couldn't become an Eagle Scout at the time he earned the rank because his service in World War II got in the way. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time," said Hart, who lives in a retirement center in nearby Lehigh Acres. Scout officials say he may be the oldest person to earn the honor. Hart joined the Cub Scouts...

Terrorist Boy Scouts? 7/25/2007 Let me say up front: I am not making this up. There's a Boy Scout camp in Colorado where they've taught gun safety and target shooting for years. Well, when some newcomer neighbors complained about it, the county sheriff there likened the place to a "Hamas training camp." Elbert County Sheriff William Frangis, who's testified in favor of gun bans in Denver on multiple occasions, now has the Boy Scouts in his sights. So, what were the Scouts doing that caused all the commotion? Shooting sporting clays during a two-day fundraiser. Yeah, I know: So what?...