RememberSchiff

Under the DOD Innovative Readiness Program, combat engineers will do construction, electrical and plumbing tasks at Maine Boy Scout camps. Hurray! Cost of materials for scouts $1-2 million, depending on donations. Pine Tree Council will sell their palatial Alton E. “Chuck†Cianchette Scout Service Center near Portland Jetport. About eight to ten years ago, construction costs were over a million dollars for that money pit! I know small Maine potatoes compared to the Summit. The council office will move to the soon to refurbished John Messer Rotary Scout Training Center at Camp Hinds. Good story http://www.pressherald.com/news/Main...l?pagenum=full

I used Adobe Reader to open file for editing, my default PDF viewers did not work. You're right there are not multiple lines in the Explain fields.

Agree, this is not the scout way, i.e., help only yourself and not others. Either rewrite the exemption amendment so it applies to all non-profits or man up and pay the same taxes required of other non-profits. Fairness.

Oh, right, the article that embodies all that is wonderful about political journalism with this line "Rowe didn't immediately return a request for comment." . . . because the reporter never requested a comment from Rowe. In the interest of fairness, Mike Rowe's response from his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheRealMikeRowe) on Feb 24: And some of his logic on why he agreed to do voiceover work for WalMart, from Feb 12: Mike said he was tired before entering his response which explains why it sounds a bit confusing. Remember when Walmart was fined for selling offshore clothes with Made in USA signs? What do those last two sentences of his mean anyway? To me without the American worker/famer/... there is no America. I still have not heard any details of Walmart's "investment" plan from either Walmart or Mike, so as I said I remain skeptical.

Oh, right, the article that embodies all that is wonderful about political journalism with this line "Rowe didn't immediately return a request for comment." . . . because the reporter never requested a comment from Rowe. In the interest of fairness, Mike Rowe's response from his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheRealMikeRowe) on Feb 24: And some of his logic on why he agreed to do voiceover work for WalMart, from Feb 12: The $250 billion investment in US manufacturing is over 10 years. Walmart provided no other details as to what "investment" means. I hope they don't mean just purchase orders as Walmart is already there with American made junk food, beer, ammo, cigarettes, magazines, cleaning products. Walmart annual revenue is over $400B and net income $17B. For years, Walmart has been a driving force in buying cheaper goods from off-shore ... I'm skeptical and wish Mike had passed on Walmart.

I agree it is an improvement, but it needs more work on the layout. Too much space for DOB, age, Gender, ... too little space for allergy explanations - eat in a nut-free area? Latex allergy?. and medical restrictions. Why do Allergies reaction appear on both Part B and C? Remove from C, add more room for activity restrictions or considerations. If part C is done, physician should initial part B (medical history, immunization, allergies) or attach their separate patient printout. Drop the bottom banner "Prepare for Life" to add more room, add to top heading BSA Part A, BSA Part B. They finally dropped SS# My $0.02

IMHO, more BSA and less Walmart. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-mike...d-for-walmart/

More details on the "Nonprofit Youth Organization Tax Exempt Support Amendment" which just tax exempts the Boy Scouts' Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve and no other non-profit in West Virginia. http://www.charlestondailymail.com/Business/201403020058?page=2&build=cache

Watching the Oscars, Pharrell Williams seems "Happy" to bring back wearing the Campaign hat.

Scout policy notwithstanding, I think you will find that your council, CO, and other adults will not much care about this issue after the fact just as you and your adult children were unconcerned during the event. Then again if the CO dismissed adult scout leaders that would be fine with Schiff. Seemingly, the reality these days is that the most we can hope for is for all to drink responsibly, i.e., adults are not driving after consuming and adults are not spending scout funds on alcohol. My unit stopped attending events where alcohol was served - ball games and even CO events due to safety concerns. My $0.02

So much for Follow Me Boys 2

West Virginia House Resolution 108 will amend the West Virginia Constitution to say that "any property owned by a nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is youth development by means of adventure, educational or recreational activities for young people and others at a nonprofit constructed facility built with the expenditure of no less than $100 million, where such facility is capable of supporting additional activities within the region or within the state of West Virginia and which is leased or used to generate revenue for the non-profit organization, is exempt from ad valorem property taxation, subject to any requirements, limitations and conditions as may be prescribed by general law." Now goes to State Senate. http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x32208166/Two-Constitutional-amendments-await-legislative-action

Update: Amendment to WV Constitution maybe Nov, 2014 ballot? A tax break resolution passed the West Virginia House and now goes to W.V. Senate. If it passes there, next stop is the ballot for voter consideration. The proposed amendment to the state Constitution would give certain tax breaks to the Boy Scouts of America’s Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve but apparently not to other non-profits. The BSA wants to rent its facilities to for-profit groups - corporations, concert promoters without jeopardizing its West Virginia state tax-exempt status. I wonder how much we are spending on lobbying efforts? http://wvmetronews.com/2014/02/26/boy-scouts-tax-break-resolution-heads-to-senate-following-house-passage/

The homicide was widely reported as the young victim Hadiya Pendleton had performed at Obama's inauguration. Two months later, two suspects were arrested. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/hadiya-pendleton-dead-chi_n_2581309.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/28/hadiya-pendleton-suspects_n_2972745.html

During a shooting in Chicago, Scout Lawrence Sellers was shot in the leg as his shielded his girlfriend. Another friend was killed. "Doing the right thing, you shouldn't get an award for it, but I am honored to receive it, of course, I just feel like it's just the right thing," Sellers said. He was awarded the Honor Medal from the BSA. http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local/chicago_news&id=9442642 Scout Salute.

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/...ns/trails.aspx Nationally Approved Historic Trails This page is in the process of being updated.

According to that same article, his diocese Cardinal does not agree with Father John De Celles, nor does Pope Francis. I see re-assignment coming.

Decreasing membership, increasing Eagles. I wonder what the equilibrium point will be? Maybe a boy scout membership 4x the annual number of Eagles earned?

Thanks for the follow-up. I recall needing a letter of reference from my pastor for my Eagle application back in the day. That letter was mighty slow in coming, annulments come faster

I'm was talking about boys that we are not taking in and scouts we are not keeping due to policies. Critics, girls, and Cub Scouts are other matters. Over the years I personally have turned away many great boys and their families over the membership form DRP (hated myself too) and seen almost as many older great scouts leave because they were not allowed to take charge (as in no adults) or even do the outdoor things they safely did with their families. This takes a toll on our youth membership numbers.

Maybe some day the Boy Scout program will be an inclusive, outdoor, character-building program, i.e., take any boy who wants to be a scout, teach them scoutcraft and leadership (not management), and then trust them to lead other scouts on outings without adults.

Good Gawd. I wish we would go back to just teaching our Scouts to do a good turn without reward, recognition, or even thanks because it is the scout way of doing the right thing. Instead we have created generations who expect something more for doing the right thing or even just doing their job. What's in it for me, Mr. Schiff?

So far very few TLUSA have started around here - NH, MA. If the theory was that CO's who asked their BSA troop to leave would automatically replace with a TLUSA unit, that is not happening here. The BSA unit finds another sponsor and/or the scouts leave or find another troop. Seems the TLUSA units are being formed by disgruntled scouters who are finding they need to reach out over a larger geographic area for members. Just an observation, it has been less than a year since they started. My $0.02

"(8) No person under the age of 18..." Is a subset of "(g) Camping at authorized sites, cabins or other structures." That is Webelos III camping, not a backpack trip. In New York State you need a permit for wilderness backpacking only when you camp in the same spot for more than three nights, or in a group of ten or more people. http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7872.html "Campground" being the operative word here, if the photo of the paved sidewalks and crushed stone campsites didn't give it away. I did call one state park and the weekend guy said, "Well, I don't know of any Massachusetts wilderness age rules, but I wouldn't send them out on the AT any younger than ten or eleven without adult supervision!" My underage New Hampshire backpacking experience is limited to the White Mountain National Forest, where there are no age restrictions. If the term "state park" is too confusing, unsupervised Boy Scouts might stick to National Forests and the Appalachian Trail (AT): Massachusetts has 90 miles of AT trail, Vermont has 150 miles, and New Hampshire has 161 miles. A Note to Young Readers: If your "BSA Trained" adult leaders can not tell the difference between a family campground and a state wilderness trailhead, you might be safer in a campground that requires photo ID! Ok, I misread the NY regulation, though it seems odd that NY of all states would allow any camping without a permit and a $$$ permit at that. So I'll amend my statement - State parks (MA, VT, NH) around here do not allow scout-age teens to camp (at a campground, campsite, primitive site, whatever) without an adult...Never had those restrictions back in the day when I was a scout planning campouts, just typed a letter and mailed it (with cash) to the park ranger, which was my point.

Sorry to hear of the loss of two scouts. What a extremely discourteous thought to think of one's personal benefit at this time of grief. It was his duty to help and the honor was reward in itself. No service hours for serving others in a time of need - death, first aid, natural disasters, emergencies. Service hours are for non-emergencies like building park benches, park cleanup, raking,... My $0.01