RememberSchiff

A Missouri Department of Conservation employee photographed a orb weaver spider web, constructed between two trees. The photo's perspective makes the web look massive, Cub size? The orb weaver spider is know for its intricate web designs. They are large in size -- approximately a half-inch for females -- and are usually hairy or furry, according to the department's website. Sources: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/03/us/spiderweb-missouri-trnd/index.html https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/spotted-orbweavers

A comparison of Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing claim periods for abuse victims : Rochester Diocese - 170 days Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa. – 191 days Boy Scouts of America - 174 days Buffalo Diocese lawyers are using those bankruptcy cases, as well as several others, in asking Judge Carl L. Bucki to reconsider his Sept. 11 ruling that gives sex abuse victims until Aug. 14, 2021 – or 337 days – to file a claim against the Buffalo Diocese. Source: https://buffalonews.com/cash-strapped-buffalo-diocese-wants-to-speed-up-bankruptcy-case/article_d476a3d6-0737-11eb-af78-2794117d4906.html

Update Oct 5,2020 on Ms. Ireland After 15 years in Scouting and nine years spent urging the BSA to admit girls as official badge-earning members, on October 1, Sydney Ireland, 19, whose family also has a home in New York City, had her Board of Review and officially earned her Eagle Scout rank. On Friday, Sydney told Patch: "During my Board of Review last night, I was asked what the most challenging part of Scouting was for me. I answered, 'Getting into Scouts was the hardest part.' I am so grateful to everyone that has supported me on this path to Eagle, including elected officials and the National Organization for Women-NYC. This is such a wonderful opportunity for young women to achieve greater equality." Sydney ...will lead the inaugural class of women scouts poised to become the first female Eagle Scouts. Sydney became the first female to successfully complete all requirements to earn the Eagle rank more than two years ago. She finalized her Eagle project, "Connect a Vet with a Pet," on Veteran's Day in 2018. more details at source https://patch.com/new-york/southampton/young-woman-who-fought-join-boy-scouts-earns-eagle-scout-rank

I think so, as OBEDIENT is being misunderstood as an absolute. For example, in YP we teach scouts to say no to an abuser, even if he/she is an adult leader. I would prefer VIGILANT replace it. Updating the Scout Law is worth an other topic or two in itself. Another $0.02,

@TMcL on behalf of scouter.com moderators welcome.

Well our troop tradition of ringing the bell will not change, nor our service of helping our CO with their biannual fundraisers. Council is aware and either they or National can decide to drop our charter. I think @David CO and @Eagledadmake interesting points which IMHO ties in with the Adult Association Method and my previous comment that men of good conscience can disagree. Another $0.02,

2011? I thought it was changed. Our unit will still ring bell after Thanksgiving, though with covid we will not sing this year. If being Kind to others makes us DisObedient, IMHO we are better scouts for it. Another $0.02,

Don't blindly follow? Question authority? Follow your conscience. Make sure your right, then go ahead (Davy Crockett). Accept the consequences on your decisions. That men of good conscience can disagree. Do what is right. Does what The Leader says make sense, if so he/she should be able to explain it. In Cub Scouts we discuss the Christmas Truce of 1914. IMHO, this is a cornerstone of character building and leadership which we discuss with our scouts. Years ago here, scouters argued about the existing BSA rule against raising money for other organizations and National gave the Salvation Army bell-ringing as an example which was likely due to the scouter.com topic. Yes each Christmas, some scouters and their units Cheerfully disobeyed that rule which was apparently written by those unfamiliar with the Scout Oath - to help others at all times and that Eagle candidates routinely raise money for others to fund their Eagle scout projects. As we know, eventually National quietly removed that rule. My $0.02,

That is a question for the BSA as they are Blackbaud's customer. My point, there was more to the breach than Blackbaud initially released and the extent of this new information, whether there was no more damage or SSN's compromised to customer BSA, was reported Sep 27, to customer BSA . IMO, the BSA should append an update to https://www.scouting.org/blackbaud-data-incident/ letting us know. Sept 29, 2020 "Security Incident" from Blackbaud website further forensic investigation ( occurred after July 16) found that for some of the notified customers, the cybercriminal may have accessed some unencrypted fields intended for bank account information, social security numbers, usernames and/or passwords. In most cases, fields intended for sensitive information were encrypted and not accessible. These new findings do not apply to all customers who were involved in the incident. Customers who this applies to who we believe are using these fields for such information were contacted the week of September 27, 2020 and were provided with additional support. We sincerely apologize that this happened and will continue to partner closely with our customers as we jointly navigate this cybercrime incident.

The Lone Scout Memory Lodge Museum was constructed at Camp John J. Barnhardt (NC) and dedicated Aug. 13, 1970. It held a collection of pins, patches, books and other memorabilia that told the story of the Lone Scouts. It closed in 2006 and most contents transferred to the W.D. Boyce Scout Museum, now called Ottawa Historical and Scouting Heritage Museum, in Ottawa, Ill. Source with photo and audio: https://www.thesnaponline.com/2020/10/03/peeking-into-the-past-lone-scout-memory-lodge-museum/

There was a recent discussion related to the Boys' Life Scouts in Action strip archive which may help. https://boyslife.org/scouts-in-action/ https://boyslife.org/more-scouts-in-action/

@Scouter20 on behalf of scouter.com moderators, welcome.

Update Sep 29,2020: Hackers may have gotten access to individuals' bank and Social Security information in a ransomware attack over the summer on a data storage and software provider that serves dozens of Texas nonprofits and universities. “After July 16, further forensic investigation found that for some of the notified customers, the cybercriminal may have accessed some unencrypted fields intended for bank account information, Social Security numbers, usernames and/or passwords," Blackbaud Inc. disclosed in a regulatory filing this week. "In most cases, fields intended for sensitive information were encrypted and not accessible.” In an updated notice on its website, Blackbaud said that its new findings “do not apply to all customers who were involved in the incident” and that it had contacted potentially affected customers. “We sincerely apologize that this happened and will continue to partner closely with our customers as we jointly navigate this cybercrime incident,” Blackbaud said in a statement on its site. Sources: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2020/10/01/blackbaud-hackers-may-have-accessed-social-security-bank-info-in-attack-affecting-texas-institutions/ https://www.blackbaud.com/securityincident

Grand Teton Council has operated Treasure Mountain Scout Camp in Alta, Wyoming for over 80 years but soon plans to transfer operation to The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints. The U.S. Forest service owns the land. “Once they have an agreement (finalized) with the Forest Service, we will vacate our special-use permit and they will take over the property,” Council CEO Farrer says. Farrer says lack of funding has made it difficult to maintain the camp since the church decided to end its long association with the Boy Scouts of America in 2019. Funding shortages got even worse during the COVID-19 pandemic since most of the scouting activities at the camp this year have been canceled. “Two years ago, we had over 26,000 kids registered in scouting and six camp operations,” Farrer says. “We’re now down to just under 2,000 kids and we can’t financially maintain six camps … so we decided to (eliminate) the number of camps we had.” “When the local scouts opened Treasure Mountain (81 years ago), our membership then looked about like it does now,” he says. “We’ve now dropped down to where we were 80 years ago and we have to start building back up again. The council will continue as long as we can be smart … and remain fiscally viable.” Grand Teton Council still operates Little Lemhi Scout Camp in Swan Valley, Island Park Scout Camp and Salmon River High Adventure base camp. The council also operates a cub scout day camp north of Rigby called Krupp Scout Hollow. More at source: https://www.eastidahonews.com/2020/09/treasure-mountain-scout-camp-under-new-operation-after-81-years/

Update 9/30/2020 Two years after, Murphy received maximum sentence for vehicular homocide - 8 1/3 to 25 years. https://nypost.com/2020/09/30/li-drunk-driver-gets-maximum-sentence-for-killing-boy-scout/

I have and IMHO, 1. Redundant. There are already state agencies, local BOH, and ACA to ensure health and safety. 2. Yes, function as a training provider for camp staff.

There is a lot to this motion, I made summary cuts ~RS Tort Claimants Committee (TCC) submits motion for an order annexed hereto as Exhibit A, authorizing the TCC to issue subpoenas to and directing discovery from Boy Scouts of America (“BSA” or the “Debtor”), members of the Ad Hoc Committee of Local Councils of the BSA (the “Local Council Committee Members”), and those local councils specifically listed on Exhibit B hereto (the “Additional Local Councils,” together with the Local Council Committee Members, the “Local Councils” and, together with the BSA, the “Examinees”). The TCC seeks the entry of an order authorizing the issuance of narrowly tailored subpoenas pursuant to Bankruptcy Rules 2004 and 9016 for the production of (a) documents and information regarding assets that the Examinees contend are “restricted assets” (the “Restricted Assets,” and the documents and information concerning Restricted Assets, the “Restricted Asset Information”), 2 (b) troop and camp rosters (the “Rosters”), and (c) Insurance Policies for claims arising from or concerning sexual abuse (the “Insurance Policies” and, together with the Restricted Asset Information and the Rosters, the “Discovery Requests”)3 from the BSA and the Local Councils. The TCC needs to review and analyze this information so that it can participate in substantive discussions regarding a possible global resolution among the Debtors, TCC, the Local Councils, and the other mediation parties. 4 ... The information sought is extremely narrow in scope and well within the confines of Rule 2004 discovery and is needed by the TCC to participate in a productive mediation. While certain of the Examinees have been working with the TCC regarding the TCC’s informal document requests, the Examinees have either (a) provided insufficient information concerning certain of the Restricted Assets; (b) provided a list of Restricted Assets without documentary support for the alleged restrictions; or (c) provided no Restricted Asset Information at all.5 Moreover, the Examinees have uniformly rejected the TCC’s repeated requests for the Rosters. Finally, while the TCC is aware that the BSA has produced certain insurance policies and has retained an “archivist” to assist in identifying Insurance Policies, few, if any, of the Local Councils have provided any Insurance Policies even though they generally had independent insurance coverage prior to 1980. The Examinees must use their best efforts to locate and produce all Insurance Policies. Since the first day of this case, the Debtor has beseeched all of the parties to move quickly towards the negotiation of a plan because it is a nonprofit entity and could not endure a lengthy and expensive chapter 11 process. That message has been echoed by the Ad Hoc Committee of Local Councils. With that exhortation comes the responsibility to provide prompt and fulsome discovery responses. The Examinees have slow-walked information on the Local Councils’ Restricted Assets and stonewalled on the Roster requests, and the TCC has no confidence that all of the Insurance Policies have been produced. The Examinees have failed to hold up their end of the bargain and erected roadblocks to the TCC’s ability to perform the due diligence required in the performance of its fiduciary duties. Restricted Asset Information (page 8 of 19) The TCC needs the Restricted Asset Information to assess the factual and legal basis for any claimed restriction for the purpose of making an accurate financial assessment of each Local Council. Determination of whether donor-restricted assets should be excluded from a financial analysis is complicated, and may require some or all of the following information:  The donor or source of the asset;  The identity of the initial recipient of each asset;  Whether the recipient entity was independent from BSA or was a trust for which the trustee was unrelated to BSA;  The source, manner, and timing of conveying any alleged donor restriction;  The nature and specific language of such alleged donor restriction;  Whether the donor restriction expressly indicated that BSA or its related party was to hold the asset in trust;  The type of asset (e.g., cash or real property);  How the assets were and are now held; and  Whether the assets were commingled or transferred or spent such that their continued existence cannot be proven. Rosters (page 10 of 19) (i.e. annual chartering information ~RS) 22. The TCC seeks the Rosters from the Local Councils and BSA,8 who the TCC is informed has the Rosters in its possession, custody and control. The Rosters will enable the TCC to verify and assess the value and scope of abuse claims against the BSA, Local Councils, and chartered organizations. In addition, the Rosters will help the TCC determine which sponsoring or chartered organizations may be implicated in abuse claims and whether such organizations have insurance policies available to satisfy the abuse claims. 23. Abuse survivors may have a legal claim against at least three different entities recognized in the BSA Charter and By-laws and its Rules and Regulations: (a) the BSA; (b) a “local council” that managed all Boy Scouting units (e.g., a Boy Scout Troop or a Cub Scout Pack) in a defined geographic area; and (c) a “chartering organization”, such as a school or church, that operated a particular Boy Scout unit in conjunction with the Local Council and BSA. (pages 12,13 of 19) 27. As a rule, Rosters clearly identify the local council and charter organization that may be liable for abuse by a Scout leader on the roster or for abuse of a Scout member on the Roster. Many of these councils and charter organizations may want to participate in the Debtor’s bankruptcy and obtain the benefits of a channeling injunction, which means the TCC needs to know their identity and must be able to evaluate their respective liabilities to determine whether they have made a substantial contribution to the cases. 28. Even if a council or charter organization does not choose to participate in the Debtor’s bankruptcy, the TCC needs to know their identities so that it can explore whether these entities have insurance that may provide coverage for claims made in the bankruptcy. For example, it appears these entities may have purchased their own insurance separate and apart from the Debtor’s insurance, including insurance that may have listed the Debtor as an additional insured. 29. Second, the charters and Rosters will help the TCC, the Debtor, and other interested parties to corroborate certain claims, particularly if a claimant does not recall certain information about their Scouting unit. For example, from the thousands of claims that have already been submitted, the TCC is aware that many claimants do not recall their Scouting unit number (e.g., Boy Scout Troop #23), the name of the local council who was responsible for their Scouting unit, or the name of the chartered organization that sponsored their Scouting unit. Others do not recall the specific year(s) of the sexual abuse (which may be relevant to insurance coverage issues). Some claimants do not recall the names of adults who received complaints and ignored them or saw “red flag” behavior and ignored it. 30. Since the vast majority of claimants were children and teens when they were abused, it is completely understandable that they would not be able to recall this information -- some of the claimants were in second or third grade when they were sexually abused. The claimants also generally lack any meaningful ability to obtain the information because of the automatic stay and the injunction -- claimants who have filed state court actions cannot issue discovery to the Debtor or the Local Councils to obtain this information for use in filling-out their claim forms. 31. On the other hand, these claimants are struggling to recall and provide important information that is contained in the charters and Rosters. For example, Rosters may help such claimants recall or identify information such as the Troop number, the name of the camp, the sponsoring organization, the Scout leader’s name, the particular year(s) of abuse or the location of the incident(s). Furthermore, where a claimant alleges he was abused in a Council Camp but cannot recall the name, Roster would also be helpful to identify the name of the Camp and may assist in identifying perpetrators and witnesses not associated with the Camp. 32. Third, and related, the Debtor and other interested parties have suggested they may object to claims if the claimant is unable to provide some of the information that many claimants are already struggling to provide. Not only does the TCC need this information in order to identify third parties who may want to participate in the bankruptcy, or who may have insurance that covered the Debtor and/or parties who choose to participate, but no party has an interest in waiting to obtain the charters and Rosters until the Debtor or third parties start objecting to claims. The claimants should have a fair opportunity to provide as much information as possible to avoid claim objections and the substantial amount of time and money that could be devoted to objections that will easily be rejected once the claimant is provided with the charters and/or rosters. 33. Fourth, and also related, the Debtor and other interested parties have suggested they may object to claims if a claimant and/or their alleged abuser are not listed on the roster(s) for their Scouting unit. Insurance Policies (page 15 of 19) 36. TCC acknowledges that the BSA has produced certain insurance policies and has retained an “archivist” to assist in identifying Insurance Policies. While it remains to be seen what work the “archivist” has done, the BSA has not produced (a) any Insurance Policies from prior to 1963, or (b) any of the Insurance Policies listed on Schedule A of the Discovery Requests. Moreover, none of the Local Councils have provided any Insurance Policies even though they generally had independent insurance coverage prior to 1980. https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/852384_1379.pdf

@ChristianB on behalf of scouter.com moderators, welcome.

Featherbedding? I see little need here. Are there any safety issues? any complaints? any units asking for this? I predict little interest from volunteers. There are plenty of other places to camp. "The NCAP Local Council Authorization and Assessment Declaration also asks each camp to indicate the purpose of the camp. We think that camps should be able to articulate why the camp is being held and make sure that like Baden Powell said, what we do has a purpose." Good grief. We already have ACA and state regulatory organizations overseeing camp safety and operation, no need for redundancy. NCAP should just focus on training staff and volunteers to insure Program quality. My $0.02,

$0 as in person fired, position eliminated, or ... restructured and filled by a volunteer? Some of those executives received large increases in just one year. Compare to 2017 Schedule J (page 93) Also of note (page 17) Also of note Schedule F - Activities Outside the United States, Grants and Assistance to Individuals Outside the U S (pages 52-69). Some serious scout bucks to "Support International Scouting".

Nationally yes, but the "first female Eagle Scout" acknowledgment appears in smaller circles - state, county, town ...which IMHO is only natural. Don't many of us find a "first" angle in our own or our children's accomplishments. My SECOND son was my FIRST son to earn Eagle. A handful of women in other states have already become Eagle Scouts, but on Wednesday evening, in the parish hall of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, the local Eagle Review Board voted to make Taylor the first female Eagle Scout in Wyoming. The Doña Ana County Commission declared Aug. 25 Valerie del Plain Day in recognition of her becoming the first female Eagle Scout in Las Cruces, media and public communications manager Catherine Zaharko said. But back to nationally, how many Eagles will be in this Inaugural Class of Female Eagle Scouts? I guess we will have to wait until Feb, 2021 award ceremony? Will the venue be the Super Bowl? My $0.02,

@BlueandSilverBear on behalf of the moderators of scouter.com, welcome.

Update 9/24/2020: After 27 days and 272 miles, Camp Director Clint Buxton completed his fundraising hike and raised $30,000. Buxton had been conditioning throughout the summer by hiking Camel's Hump and other favorite trails. But suddenly, with less than two weeks to go, he found himself taking a crash course in social media and grass roots community organizing. Buxton quickly got up to speed and had a support team of friends and family behind him as he stepped onto the trail and adopted the trail name ‘Hawkeye’ in August. Along the way, dozens of Scout Packs and Troops linked up with Clint as he made his way toward the Canadian border. Others joined in virtually by hitting a local trail and posting their adventures with a ‘Flat Buxton’ cutout on social media using the #BuxtonHikesLT hashtag. More details at source: https://vermontbiz.com/news/2020/september/24/trail-magic-‘unemployed’-scout-camp-director’s-long-trail-trek-raises-30000

Some good news for a change?

@skeptic link appears to be broken.