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A human skull found by two teenage Boy Scouts in a lake has sparked off a police investigation - who believe it may belong to a small child. Hollywood police say divers spent Monday morning searching Oak Lake Park, looking for bones and other evidence. Spokeswoman Lt Diana Pereira says that so far they haven't found anything after the two 15-year-olds found the skull over the weekend.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI—Scott Allan Herrick, 40, of Twin Lakes, Michigan, was sentenced to serve 95 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. Herrick surreptitiously videotaped boys as they were dressing in the boys’ locker room in the YMCA in Muskegon and kept a massive collection of 100,000 images of child pornography with him at the Gerber Boy Scout Camp in Twin Lakes, Michigan. He was convicted at trial of three counts of attempting to produce child pornography. On the first day of trial, Herrick pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A Portland man is urging people to boycott the Boy Scout Christmas tree recycling program to challenge the organization's position on gay rights. Richard Kuhns posted flyers throughout the Laurelhurst neighborhood where he lives, complaining of the Boy Scouts’ national stance against gays. Local Boy Scout leaders said the tree recycling program has traditionally been one of their biggest yearly fund-raisers. Boy Scouts of America issued a statement Thursday that said in part, "The BSA recognizes that some do not agree with its position on this single issue, but values the freedom of everyone to express their...

Boy Scout/Cub Scout Charter Discussion Bob Casey—Pack 303, Britt Kennedy-Troop 303, Brad Schnell, PTO liaison, and Joe Mueller from the Greater St. Louis area council represented the Boy Scouts and answered questions. PTO members checked in at the door and received a blue card to be exchanged for a written ballot. The voting process was explained. Issues: Executive Committee role in supervising scouting activity and concerns if this is the role of the PTO. Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts are the only organizations that the PTO charters. Issues were brought to the Exec Council this summer and the PTO Exec council did...

GRAND RAPIDS -- Former Massachusetts governor and Michigan native Mitt Romney said Thursday night it "breaks my heart to see this state having so much difficulty in so many places." Romney, speaking to hundreds at the Boy Scouts of America Gerald R. Ford Council's Building Character Celebration Dinner, said he has a better idea for leadership. "I'm convinced that if Boy Scouts were running things here in Michigan, you'd be a lot better off," Romney said to hefty applause at DeVos Place, 303 Monroe Ave. NW.

Remember the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah? Of course, that was what helped put Mitt Romney on the map nationally and internationally. Financially, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) was deep in the hole. Then the bribery scandal surrounding the bid hit the news in a big way. The foundering committee turned to Mitt Romney, a guy with a great track record in turning around failing businesses. Romney came in and made everything better than even the most optimistic had hoped. The games went well (except for the ice skating scandal) and made money. Romney, who had previously failed in...

PORTLAND, Ore/SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Four Oregon men sued the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday for $20 million over childhood sexual abuse they say they suffered at the hands of a pedophile knowingly appointed as their scoutmaster in the 1970s. The four lawsuits, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, accuse the national Boy Scouts and its Cascade Pacific Council of negligence, fraud and sexual battery of a child in connection with the repeated molestation of the men, then aged 12 to 15. The suits, each seeking $5.2 million in damages, are the latest in a barrage of...

It is a pocket of rural America that has changed little in a century and is about as far removed from the bustle and marble monuments of Washington DC as one could imagine. But Paint Creek, where ranches and wooden homes, some now abandoned, are dotted beside cotton and wheat fields, is the place that defines the man who some Republicans believe could unseat President Barack Obama next November. Governor Rick Perry was part of the fifth generation to work the land at Paint Creek, some 200 miles west of Dallas on the flat expanse of plains known as “the...

SAN DIEGO, CA -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry told a Boy Scouts ceremony on Wednesday that the federal government is rudderless, kicking off a trip to California that has stoked speculation that he will enter the Republican contest for president. Perry fondly recalled his boyhood as a Scout in Texas, including his first visit to Washington, and applauded the group for promoting values such as fellowship, self-reliance, dedication and perseverance. "I really wish we saw more of that sort of courage throughout our society, yep, including in Washington, D.C.," he said. Perry didn't mention President Barack Obama or any politician...

Something has been bugging me for years. You know, like everyone over 50 knows who Gladys Knight is; but what is a “pip”? The school in my neighborhood told the Cub Scouts this week that their flyer cannot be distributed because it mentions God in the 12 core values. While this constitutional misstep is unseemly, it is somehow made worse when contrasted with the always-welcome creed of environmentalism. Like any normal American, I appreciate living in clean, healthy surroundings. But the green movement went past the point of preachy years ago. Environmental respect advanced from the “don’t be a litterbug”...

A former Oxnard man has filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, alleging he was sexually abused more than two decades ago by a Scout leader who was active in the church. Filed in Ventura County Superior Court, the suit alleges the organizations knew or should have known the alleged abuser posed a risk. It also claims they failed to prevent abuse. Building largely on a Portland, Ore., sexual abuse case in which the Boy Scouts of America was found negligent last year, the suit says the Oxnard troop...

The Green Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America has decided to honor Sen. Bernie Sanders as Citizen of the Year. I attempted to email the Green Mountain Council a copy of The Senator from Antipathy, an article quoting Sen. Sanders' own words from his memoir, "Outsider in the House" . The email from the Scout's website refused to receive it, saying "possible offensive words found in the message text". I then tried to send it from my own email address. Again, it was rejected. The message stated: "A recent e-mail apparently sent by you contained words or phrases...

PORTLAND — A Scouts leader in Portland subjected a boy to hundreds of instances of fondling, sodomy, oral sex and masturbation in the 1980s, even though Scout and Mormon Church leaders had been warned for years that the man was an abuser, a suit filed Tuesday alleges. SNIP The victim, Clark said, is a member of the armed forces, in his mid-30s who is “emotionally shut down” and trying to come to terms with the abuse, Clark said. He has a history of troubles with relationships and authorities, Clark said. SNIP Clark said church leaders who sponsored Scout troops were...

Parenting boys can be tough. From sexually provocative media, to the influence of bad boy athletes and self-indulgent celebrities, to violent video games… the cultural undertow exerts a powerful pull in the wrong direction. When looking for alternatives, parents like Angela and Ty, who both work full-time while raising three boys, feel overwhelmed at times. Angela observes. “It’s hard to know what’s going to benefit our guys in the long run…and be something they like.” Their vision is to raise boys who will become strong, Godly men of character, with inquisitive spirits and service-oriented hearts and the self-discipline and drive...

Buena High School JROTC cadets place wreaths at grave markers on Saturday. (Ty Holland • For the Herald/Review) SIERRA VISTA — A year ago, when just 242 holiday wreaths were laid on the graves of veterans in Sierra Vista, a group of local women thought those who served this country deserved better, and they decided to do something about it. On Saturday morning, each and every one of the nearly 1,400 graves at the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery was adorned with a touch of red and green as a result of their effort.

"On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to obey the scout law, to help other people at all times, and to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."These are the words of the Boy Scout oath. Recited at scout meetings across the nation, every week for the past 100 years, this is an important moment when boys aged 10 to 13 raise their right hands and promise to serve both God and country. I was a scout myself and believe that the Boy Scouts is the only...

SUSQUEHANNA - Ira Reynolds, who joined the Boy Scout movement in 1914 - when it was just 4 years old - was laid to rest early Thursday afternoon. About 50 youths from Boy Scout Troop 81 and Cub Scout Pack 81, thrust three fingers in the air and in unison cited the Scout pledge and oath just moments before Reynolds' casket was lowered at Evergreen Cemetery. The 108-year-old Reynolds was the nation's oldest Boy Scout when he died Nov. 13, and Thursday he was remembered by Scout executive Art Worrick as the embodiment of the oath. "The boys who encountered...

In shopping around for a Cub Scout program for their two sons, ages 6 and 8, Jeremy and Jodi Stokes decided on the one at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews. The Stokes, also of Matthews, weren't members of the evangelical megachurch, but they had many friends who were. And unlike the Cub Scout pack at their own church, which doesn't have a program for 6-year-old Tiger Scouts, Christ Covenant's was big enough to accommodate both of their boys. The couple even signed up to be Scout leaders - he would lead the Bears, she'd help with the Tigers - when...

What would we do without the heroes in the Keene Police Department? Thank goodness they are here to keep us safe from the criminal Cub Scouts selling us cotton candy and the volunteers at the Hundred Nights shelter selling us baked goods! Here’s the news story from the Sentinel. I heard there was video taken, but I haven’t seen it pop up yet. Many businesses and nonprofit organizations name Pumpkin Festival as their most profitable selling day or fundraiser. But a few fundraisers were cut short by police and festival organizers. Police shut down three vendors for operating without permits...

EL PASO — Fernando Espinosa always thought of his Boy Scout experience as a way to learn about leadership and helping others. But he never expected his 10 years of scouting to help him become a hero. On Jan. 22, without thinking twice, Espinosa pushed teacher Glenda Tanner, 47, out of the way of a car at a crosswalk in front of Franklin High School. The car struck Espinosa, who received a head injury from the windshield and hurt his left knee. ... For his bravery, Espinosa, 17, will be awarded the Honor Medal with Crossed Palms on Friday at...

Six men who alleged they were sexually abused by an Oregon Boy Scouts leader in the 1980s have settled their lawsuits against the group's national organization for undisclosed amounts, the plaintiffs' attorney said Wednesday. The settlements include the case of one man, Kerry Lewis, who was awarded nearly $20 million in damages from Boys Scouts of America in a trial that ended in April. It was believed to be the largest such award against the national organization. A jury found the Texas-based group negligent for allowing a former assistant scoutmaster, Timur Dykes, to associate with Scouts after he admitted to...

SANDY -- Boy Scouts are going to be very excited when they see the huge track being built for a special Pinewood Derby race to be held Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium. It's not just the biggest track in Utah, it's the biggest ever. For the first time, the race wasn't only for Boy Scouts -- registration was open for anyone race, and everyone is invited to watch. The Pinewood Derby track will be more than 325 feet long when it's done, and it's going to break a world record. World's Longest Pinewood Derby Saturday, August 28 9:00 a.m. to...

The sixteen-year-old boy dipped his sponge into a bucket of bleach and water and began to scrub the dirt and algae off the gravestone. It read, simply, “UNKNOWN.” Beneath the boy’s knee likely lay the shattered bones of two or more young men of about his age.

The National Boy Scout Jamboree ended, Wednesday, and President Obama broke a quasi-tradition by declining to address the Scouts. The quadrennial event has been held at Fort A.P. Hill near Washington D.C. since 1981. This year's event celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the organization. In lieu of an appearance at the 10-day-long Jamboree, Obama appeared on the View, attended several Democrat fundraisers and visited Detroit. He did send a short videotaped message which reportedly was shown in a mix of several other presentations. When the president appeared he was roundly booed by the 35,000 Scouts, one man who was there...

Boy Scouts shouldn't be able to meet in Boulder's public schools because they openly discriminate against gays, according to the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Johanna Blumenthal, with the Boulder County ACLU, sent a letter today to officials with the Boulder Valley School District arguing that the Boy Scouts are a discriminatory group because they have openly defended the right to exclude homosexuals from membership. The ACLU raised the same concern in 2001, but is now buffering its argument with a recent Supreme Court ruling. The ACLU is asking the district to change its policies so that...

President Barack Obama, citing "scheduling conflict," will not attend the taxpayer-funded Boy Scouts of America Jamboree in Virginia today, an absence which drew criticism from conservative news media for what they described as the "political decision" not to attend the anti-gay, anti-atheist group's publicly-funded 100th annual gathering. An equal rights activist, however, belittled Obama's absence from the 45,000 scouts-attended Jamboree as, "a victory for scheduling conflicts." "Scouting for All" president, Howard Metzer, told Fox News the President was right to snub the scouts for their anti-gay policy, but Obama did not cite the group's discriminatory policy as his reason for...

FORT A.P. HILL, Va. — Her crown glinting in the morning sun, Miss America was telling 45,000 Boy Scouts and their leaders the other day how thrilled she was to be here at the National Scout Jamboree, to be among “the most amazing young women ...” Multimedia Slide Show Boy Scout’s Jamboree .Related Times Topic: Boy Scouts Girl Scouts Try to Shed Campfire Image (July 31, 2010) Enlarge This Image Doug Mills/The New York Times Tom Copeland Sr. helped scouts learn to shoot a rifle. The Boy Scouts are sticking to core values and pushing for more diversity. Whoops! The...

Obama skipped the Boy Scout Jamboree celebrating their 100 years in existence so he could be on The View. Boy Scout spokesman Deron Smith graciously excused the abscence, rightly pointing out how, "it just depends on his schedule..."  What would that schedule look like anyway? Hmm..... As usual you can click on the image to view it at full size. The Looking Spoon is a conservative humor/satire/art/commentary blog, visit www.thelookingspoon.com to see more posts and art

Incredibly, the president declined an invitation to this week's Boy Scout National Jamboree, opting to tape an episode of The View instead. Tonight, 45,000 Boy Scouts will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the organization’s founding at the Boy Scout National Jamboree, a quadrennial event being held at Ft. A.P. Hill, Virginia — just a short car ride outside of Washington, D.C. President Obama was invited to attend this celebration of one of America’s most important institutions. But rather incredibly, he declined and appeared on an episode of The View with Joy Behar instead. If the president’s advisors had any sense...

While President Obama is chatting with the ladies of the View the Defense Secretary Robert Gates gave yet another speech on leadership,this time in front of the crowd of 45 000 Boy Scouts at their Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Va (DoD photo by Cherie Cullen): “There are too many places in American life today without the Boy Scouting values of self-reliance, self-control, honor, integrity and morality,” Gates said. “From Wall Street to Washington to our hometowns, in all our lives there are people who seek after riches or the many kinds of power without regard to what is...

President Obama will make history as the first sitting president on a daytime talk show when he visits with the ladies of "The View." But he'll be missing out on another historic occasion -- the Boy Scouts' Jamboree marking the group's 100th anniversary, right in the president's backyard. The Jamboree kicked off this week at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where organizers had invited the president to speak to the 45,000 scouts in attendance. All three of Obama's predecessors have made it to one Jamboree while in office. But the president will instead be traveling Wednesday to New York for...

Barack was never a Boy Scout (musta been too busy having marxist poetry read to him by his communist hero instead). I also observe that your July 26, 2010 Rasmussen Presidential Approval Poll is tanking badly. And, sooo… it is time for you to go running to your media base for aid and thumb-sucking support and comfort.

In the first three parts of this series, I showed how the Obama administration is distancing itself from the Boy Scouts of America because of the organization's conservative positions. Well, the White House just did it again. At the June 29 White House press briefing, press secretary Robert Gibbs was given another opportunity to show support for the BSA on behalf of the honorary president of the BSA, U.S. President Barack Obama. Ironically, once again Gibbs ducked and dodged questions about the White House's sentiment toward the BSA, by claiming ignorance of the BSA's recent legal victory against the Philadelphia...

In parts 1 and 2, I discussed a series of evidences regarding how President Barack Obama is leading the White House pack in distancing his administration from the Boy Scouts of America via delaying Eagle Scout certificate signings, denying the invitation to go to the BSA's 100th anniversary gala, downplaying his acceptance of BSA's honorary presidency, dodging official White House communications about the BSA, not defending the BSA against cultural attacks, and, hence, devaluing his all-around role as BSA's honorary president. U.S. presidents have been proudly accepting and fulfilling the post of honorary president of the BSA since President William...

A federal jury Wednesday decided that Philadelphia violated the Boy Scouts' First Amendment rights by using the organization's anti-gay policy as a reason to evict them from their city-owned offices near Logan Square."We can't be kicked out of the building or evicted, and we don't have to pay any rent," scouts attorney William M. McSwain said after the unanimous verdict by a jury of six women and two men.The scouts' lawyers expect U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter to issue a permanent injunction that bars eviction because of the policy - set by the national organization - that homosexuals cannot be...

"A federal jury on Wednesday declared that the city of Philadelphia had violated the First Amendment rights of the local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America by moving to evict it from its city-owned headquarters if it refused to repudiate the anti-gay policies of the scouts' national parent group. In its verdict, the jury of six women and two men found that the city had imposed an "unconstitutional condition" on the scouts and declared that it was not "reasonable" to do so."

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A Boy Scouts chapter in Philadelphia may have ousted just one gay scout in the decade since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the organization's right to ban gays, but that doesn't mean untold others haven't been shut out, a city lawyer told jurors Tuesday......

For the past nine months I’ve been working with eight Boy Scouts from my parish, including my own 13-year-old son, toward the completion of their Ad Altare Dei medal, a fairly rigorous religious program for Catholic Scouts that requires them to study the seven sacraments one by one. Service projects and prayers, Powerpoints and collages are all part of the “homework� that has to be done before they conclude with a weekend retreat. I recently helped the boys with the Holy Orders chapter and thought it would be a good experience for them to attend an actual ordination. So this...

PHILADELPHIA, PA, June 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Tuesday opening arguments were heard in a case involving the Cradle of Liberty Scout Council, which is challenging the city of Philadelphia's decision to evict the Council from a building that it built and has maintained since 1929. The city said it would carry through with the eviction unless the Council rejected the Boy Scouts of America's policy banning open homosexuals from membership.In the Boy Scouts of America v. Dale case of 2000, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) were constitutionally permitted...

BAGHDAD – Two U.S. Soldiers here have spent nearly a year working to boost not only the capabilities of Iraqi firefighters but their standing and reputation in the community as well. According to Lt. Col. Gary Esson, the senior fire service advisor and a native of Joplin, Mo., and Spc. Michael Burris, a fire service advisor and Fayetteville, N.C., native, both with the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, Provincial Reconstruction Team – Baghdad, the first step was to improve living standards inside Iraqi fire stations. "If there was an [American Base] closing, we would contact them for any furniture that they...

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has let stand a ruling saying the Boy Scouts cannot lease city park land in San Diego because the group is a religious organization. The high court refused to hear an appeal from San Diego-area Boy Scouts.

Boy Scouts have traditionally earned belt loops and merit badges for outdoor pursuits like swimming, archery, canoeing and fishing. Today’s boys are spending a lot of time inside and on-line, whether it’s with MMORPGs like Runescape and World of Warcraft or interacting with a gaming system like X-Box 360 and Sony Play Station. The Boy Scouts of America have heeded the call and created a Video Games Belt Loop and Academics Pin for Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts and Webelos: the ranks prior to officially becoming a Boy Scout The new badge requirements teach the boys how to be responsible...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- An Oregon jury's decision to award a man $18.5 million in punitive damages in his case against the Boy Scouts of America will likely be the first of many financial hits the Scouts will take as it prepares to defend itself against a series of sex abuse lawsuits. The jury on Friday ordered the Scouts to make the payment to Kerry Lewis, the victim of sex abuse by a former assistant Scoutmaster in Portland in the early 1980s. The case was the first of six filed against the Boy Scouts in the same court in Oregon, with...

ARIZONA DAILY STAR Bailey Stephen Harn, Eagle Scout Bailey Stephen Harn, 14, has earned the Boy Scouts' highest rank of Eagle Scout. Only 4 to 5 percent of youth who join Scouting earn this honor. Celebrating his achievement, an Eagle Court of Honor will be held at 10 a.m. May 1 at the North Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 939 W. Chapala Drive. Bailey is a member of Boy Scout Troop 232 of the Catalina Council, Old Pueblo District. An eighth-grader at Cross Middle School, he is the son of Steve and Wendy...

"Should the Legislature congratulate the Boy Scouts of America on the anniversary of the granting of its federal congressional charter despite the fact that this organization steadfastly continues to discriminate against individuals because of their sexual orientation or religious views?"

I wasn’t a very good Boy Scout when I signed-up at 6 years old. It wasn’t that I didn’t have fun traipsing around the woods — instead, I spent most of my time daydreaming about my brand new computer, a 1982 ZX Spectrum.

Despite the growing media consensus that Catholicism causes sodomy, an alternative view -- adopted by the Boy Scouts -- is that sodomites cause sodomy. (Assume all the usual disclaimers here about most gay men not molesting boys, most Muslims being peaceful, and so on.) It is a fact that the vast majority of the abuser priests -- more than 90 percent -- are accused of molesting teen-age boys. Indeed, the overwhelmingly homosexual nature of the abuse prompted The New York Times to engage in its classic "Where's Waldo" reporting style, in which the sex of the victims is studiedly hidden...

An Oregon jury found the Boy Scouts of America and the local scout chapter negligent today in a landmark case that accused the iconic organization of covering up alleged sexual abuse of several of its boy scouts for years. The Boy Scouts of America face charges of sexual abuse by scout leaders.The nine-member jury ordered the organization to pay $1.4 million in damages, and will now move into a punitive phase that could result in the Boy Scouts of America paying a penalty that could reach $25 million. That decision is not expected for weeks. ~ Skip ~ In the...

Assembly Democrats killed a proposed resolution honoring the Boy Scouts of America. The measure died in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote. Three Republican voted to support the Boy Scouts — seven Democrats voted against the measure. According to the Los Angeles Times, Committee chairman Mike Feuer led the opposition – “citing the Scouts’ history of not allowing gays to serve in their leadership.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Jurors on Tuesday found the Boy Scouts of America negligent and awarded $1.4 million to a former Portland man who was abused by an assistant Scoutmaster in the early 1980s, following a three-week trial in which secret Scout "perversion files" were used as evidence. The jury also decided the Irving, Texas-based Scouts organization was liable for punitive damages that will be decided in a separate phase of the trial. That would be in addition to the $1.4 million. The Scouts denied allegations of negligence and said the files actually helped them keep child molesters out of...