Latest news with #Jacoby
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Why ice is power in North Texas
The world of youth sports has traditionally revolved around the athletes, their families and community non-profits. Volunteers, who see youth sports as a labor of love, drive many of the decisions. But that's not the case in northern Texas, where a National Hockey League team valued at $2 billion is calling the shots. The Dallas Stars shuts parents out and effectively controls the pathways by which young players advance to the highest ranks of the sport, according to a seven-month investigation by USA TODAY's Kenny Jacoby. 👋 USA TODAY Editor-in-Chief Caren Bohan here. Welcome to The Backstory, our newsletter exclusively for subscribers (that's you!). I'll be taking you behind the scenes of our breaking news coverage, scoops and unique storytelling. I also love to hear from our subscribers, so drop me a line at cbohan@ if you have something on your mind. NHL youth hockey team valued at $2 billion capitalizes local rinks Kenny Jacoby's reporting on the Dallas Stars National Hockey league team epitomizes the accountability journalism that is a pillar of USA TODAY's relationship with our readers, viewers and listeners. It was gratifying to see the response from so many readers who wrote in thank Jacoby for shedding light on the topic and giving voice to the frustrations of people who felt they had no say. "What caught my interest was that a for-profit National Hockey League team valued at $2 billion was so intimately involved in running the sport's youth levels," Jacoby says. "It sounded nothing like my experiences playing youth baseball, soccer, basketball and football in community leagues run by nonprofit organizations and volunteers. " Jacoby's story and related video brought responses from well over 100 readers. "The issue struck a nerve with parents not just in Texas, but across the country," Jacoby says. "Our Formstack callout alone generated nearly 80 responses from hockey parents in 19 states. Many expressed similar concerns about for-profit entities taking over rinks and leagues in their areas, strong-arming families into paying higher prices and using positions on nonprofit governing bodies to advance their financial interests. 🏒 Sound familiar? Share your experience with commercialization in youth sports with USA TODAY. These USA TODAY headlines caught my eye this week: When empty churches answer housing scarcity The number of Americans who belong to a church, synagogue or mosque has plummeted over the last few decades, dropping from 70% in 1999 to just 47% in 2020, according to a Gallup poll. The result is that houses of worship that were once anchors of the community are at risk of becoming vacant and falling into disrepair. As USA TODAY reporter Andrea Riquier writes, some house hunters are seeing an opportunity, viewing some of the vacant houses of worship as an opportunity to acquire their dream home. Riquier interviews homeowners such as Cristiana Peña and Nick Porter who decided they were "all-in" on embracing a non-traditional home and renovation costs in exchange for living in a beautiful, historic space. For anyone thinking of taking the leap, be forewarned: the process comes special challenges, including expensive rehab work and, in some case, complicated financing. A few more favorite USA TODAY reads: Thank you It's almost the end of summer: from sports to politics, we've brought incredible stories to you through these hot, busy months. Thank you for supporting our journalism with your subscription. Our work wouldn't be possible without you. Best wishes, Caren
Business Insider
26-07-2025
- Business Insider
Tree wars are tearing through Vacationland USA
An ocean view is priceless in coastal New England — unless you cut down a neighbor's trees to get it. Cases of alleged unauthorized tree-cutting and poisoning, or so-called "timber trespass," have sparked bitter neighbor-versus-neighbor legal feuds across wealthy US enclaves in recent years, with some resulting in seven-figure payouts. One lawsuit playing out in a Massachusetts court involves a homeowner on the exclusive New England island of Nantucket who has accused her neighbor of chopping down a swath of nearly 50-year-old trees on her family's property. The plaintiff, Patricia Belford, is seeking $1.4 million in damages and has alleged in the court papers that Jonathan Jacoby trespassed onto her property and cut down the trees "to enhance the ocean view" from his own compound — there's the main house, guest cottage, pool, and hot tub — that sits on about a half-acre next door. Belford said in the lawsuit that the tree-felling occurred during the winter offseason on Nantucket, a nearly 48-square-mile island off Cape Cod, where billionaires own estates. The median home sale price last year was $3.73 million, according to a report from an island realtor, Fisher Real Estate. Jacoby, the June lawsuit alleged, walked across his property at 3 Tautemo Way and onto Belford's land. On his own, he used a chainsaw to cut down 16 30-foot-high cedar, cherry, and Leyland cypress trees before he asked his landscaper to help him clean up the debris, the lawsuit and an attached statement by the landscaper to local police say. "The loss of the trees has significantly diminished the value and character of the Belford Property," the lawsuit said. "The trees were a mature and integral part of the landscape, planted and cared for by the Belford family for nearly 50 years." Jacoby's home was recently put on the market for nearly $10 million, with a listing that boasted "sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean." Those views that the latest listing touted were "conspicuously missing" from previous, pre-treegate listings, Belford's lawsuit said. The home was taken off the market this month. "It's usually done in some sort of act of desperation," a real estate agent on the island told Business Insider of similar illicit tree trimmings. "They need that bump. This property has previously been on the market, and they haven't been able to sell it. Therein lies the motivation." Jacoby is facing criminal charges over the tree-cutting ordeal. The Nantucket Police Department has charged Jacoby with vandalizing property, a felony, and the misdemeanors of trespassing and cutting/destroying trees, the chief of police confirmed to BI. An attorney for Jacoby, James Merberg, declined to comment on the criminal case and lawsuit but said that Jacoby will enter a plea of not guilty to the charges. Jacoby is scheduled to be arraigned on September 15. Jacoby could not be reached for comment, but he defended his actions to The Boston Globe, saying in an email, "I wasn't trespassing, I was clearing out her crappy trees." "Nantucket, the Vineyard — places where there is so much money at play — money and ego can get in the way very quickly," Glenn Wood, Belford's attorney, told BI, referring to the brazenness of the alleged action — and the attention it has gotten from the media. Tree law, it turns out, is an active legal niche. While most lawsuits don't accuse neighbors of such deliberate violations and most payouts or settlements don't reach seven figures, there have been a number of high-profile disputes that involve stealth maneuvers and big money. Tree-cutting fights aren't rare It's easy to see why trees can spur neighborly spats. A dead tree causes an eyesore; a large one blocks a view; a tree struck by lightning can leave debris. One look at the subreddit "tree law," which has 150,000 members, and the subject matter's universality becomes clear. Some people post asking for advice, like what to do about a neighbor's willow whose branches bow onto their roof. Others post on the latest news in the space, like a Missouri law regarding the sale of invasive species. New Hampshire-based attorney Israel Piedra, who started the website last year, told BI that tree-cutting disputes are "more common than people would think." Piedra, an attorney at the firm Welts, White & Fontaine, P.C., said he has carved out a practice representing property owners who have had their trees cut down without permission and has handled more than 100 such cases in recent years, primarily out of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Most cases, he said, do not involve accusations as "egregious" as those in the Nantucket lawsuit. "More commonly, you're dealing with a case where there isn't actually intentional conduct, or there isn't malicious intent," Piedra said, explaining that the majority of cases he has handled involve a careless homeowner who did not check the property line before cutting down trees. "They try to make it look like a mistake, or at least maintain some level of plausible deniability," he said. He said these cases are usually settled out of court through a neighbor's homeowner's insurance or a contractor's commercial liability insurance, and don't involve such high-value property or high-value damage claims. Piedra said he has never had a case settle for more than $1 million, though some cases have settled for six-figure sums. Timber trespass laws, Piedra said, vary state by state, with the New England states of Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts having some of the strongest in the country. "There's a lot of people looking for lawyers that do this kind of work," he said. When money grows on trees The allegations in the Nantucket lawsuit are extreme — crossing a property line, taking down healthy trees, the expenses involved. Putting in replacement trees, which would have to be brought from off the island, would cost nearly $500,000, Belford's lawsuit said. There have been other high-profile, big-ticket squabbles. An incident on Nantucket's sister island, Martha's Vineyard, ended in 2023 with a $2.5 million settlement after inn owners were accused of having more than 100 trees cut down on a neighboring property in a move that, a lawsuit said, "wreaked havoc and devastation akin to a war zone." In a 2006 case, a defendant in Vermont was ordered to pay $1.8 million in damages after timber trespassing. In one of the most publicized instances of human-on-tree destruction, last year, Amelia and Arthur Bond agreed to pay more than $1.7 million in fines and settlements after they'd applied herbicide to the area near the oak trees on the property of Lisa Gorman, the widow of the former L.L. Bean president and heir, in the idyllic New England coastal town of Camden, Maine. Like in the case of Jacoby and Belford, that of the Bonds and Gorman involved multimillion-dollar properties and a water view. The Bonds' weapon of choice was Tebuthioron, an herbicide that, according to a consent agreement, Amelia Bond — the former CEO of St. Louis Community Foundation, a charity with about $500 million in assets — applied to two large oak trees on Gorman's summer property, an oceanfront estate valued at $5 million. Once the chemical started to wreak havoc on Gorman's trees, Amelia Bond — whose 5,000 square-foot, $3.7 million mansion sits up the hill — allegedly swooped in and offered to cover half of the cost of their removal, Gorman's attorney said in a letter to a town official. What looked like neighborly kindness was really a ploy to get a better look at the water, the letter said. The pair confessed and paid more than $1.5 million to Gorman, $180,000 to the town, $4,500 to the Maine Board of Pesticides Control Board, and $30,000 for environmental testing, according to documents from a Camden Select Board meeting. The Bonds and their attorney did not respond to requests for comment from BI. Gorman, through her attorney, declined to comment. With details like a poisoning gone wrong, a wealthy heir, and a vacation hot spot, it's no wonder that tree law has become a surprisingly sexy corner of the legal world. "You mix all that into a cocktail," Wood, Belford's attorney, told BI. "It makes for an interesting fact pattern."
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Yahoo
Nantucket man walked into neighbor's yard and cut down 50-year-old trees to improve his ocean view, suit says
A woman on the vacation island of Nantucket is suing her neighbor after he allegedly walked onto her property and cut down several of her trees for a better view of the ocean — and the increased property value that comes with it. The lawsuit accuses Jonathan Jacoby of using a chainsaw to fell 16 of Patricia Belford's nearly 50-year-old cedar, cherry, and Leyland cypress trees. Three weeks after he allegedly cut down the trees, Jacoby listed his home for sale for nearly $10 million, according to the Boston Globe. Listed among the home's features: its "sweeping view of the Atlantic Ocean," according to the complaint. Belford points out in her lawsuit that the ocean vistas were "conspicuously missing from the property's prior listings." A pair of Nantucket neighbors are embroiled in a lawsuit over cut trees and ocean views. Patricia Belford is suing her neighbor, Jonathan Jacoby, for allegedly cutting down her nearly 50-year-old trees. Her lawsuit claims Jacoby cut down the trees to increase the property value on his home. (stock image) (Getty Images) When asked why he destroyed Belford's trees, Jacoby provided a terse response. "I wasn't trespassing, I was clearing out her crappy trees," he told the Boston Globe in a single-line email. The Independent has requested comment from Jacoby's attorney, James Merberg. Many of the "crappy trees" that Jacoby allegedly toppled were more than 30 feet tall. They also provided Belford with "a natural buffer and privacy screen between the Belford home and neighbor's parcels,' the complaint says. Belford filed her suit in the Superior Court in Nantucket. She is alleging negligence, property damage, personal injury, and trespassing. The available court documents have not revealed how much she is asking for in damages. According to the lawsuit, the property damage caused at the house is estimated at more than $486,000. To purchase and transport one 30-foot-tall Leyland cypress — not including planting the tree — it would cost around $22,114, the Boston Globe determined. 'The trees at issue were planted by the Belford family in the 1970s and maintained for nearly five decades,' the lawsuit says. 'Their removal was not only a violation of the Plaintiff's property rights, but also caused lasting damage to the character, value, and privacy of the property.' Belford has also reported the incident to the police. According to the lawsuit, there is "an active and ongoing criminal proceeding" in the Nantucket Police Department related to Jacoby's alleged lumberjack activities. Jacoby's former landscaper, Krasimir Kirilov, reportedly gave a voluntary statement to the Nantucket police concerning the investigation, according to the lawsuit. He told police he knew nothing about the tree cutting. "I was surprised to find that out," the landscaper reportedly said.
Boston Globe
14-07-2025
- Boston Globe
‘I was clearing out her crappy trees': Nantucket man cut neighbor's trees to enhance his property's ocean view, lawsuit says
'I wasn't trespassing, I was clearing out her crappy trees,' Jacoby said in a one-line email to the Globe Sunday evening. Jacoby's attorney, James Merberg, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Globe. Advertisement Many of the trees that were cut were more than 30-feet tall and served as 'a natural buffer and privacy screen between the Belford home and neighbor's parcels,' according to the lawsuit filed last month in Superior Court in Nantucket. Belford is suing for negligence, property damage, personal injury, and trespassing. Court documents do not specify how much she is seeking in damages. Property damage at 1 Tautemo Way, to date, is estimated at more than $486,000, according to court documents. It would cost $22,114 to buy and transport one 30-foot-tall Leyland cypress, not including planting it, which would require a special contractor, the lawsuit said. Belford's lawyer, on Sunday, said he would not be available to comment on the lawsuit until Monday. Advertisement When Jacoby cut the trees down on or around Feb. 22, his 'actions were calculated to enhance the ocean view from his own residence at 3 Tautemo Way and were carried out with full knowledge that he lacked any legal right to do so,' the lawsuit said. 'The trees at issue were planted by the Belford family in the 1970s and maintained for nearly five decades,' according to the complaint. 'Their removal was not only a violation of the Plaintiff's property rights, but also caused lasting damage to the character, value, and privacy of the property.' According to the lawsuit, 'there is an active and ongoing criminal proceeding related to this conduct' arising from a Nantucket Police Department report. Real estate listings for Jacoby's four-bedroom home, located on nearly half an acre 'on a high spot in sought-after Cisco,' show an asking price of $9,975,000. Court documents show that Jacoby's former landscaper, Krasimir Kirilov, gave a voluntary statement to Nantucket police on March 11. Kirilov told police that Jacoby asked him to help with clean up after Jacoby cut down the trees, according to a copy of the 2-1/2 page statement filed with the lawsuit. 'He explained that he cut trees on both his property and his neighbor's property at 1 Tautemo Way,' Kirilov's handwritten statement said. Kirilov told police he balked at doing work on the neighbor's property but Jacoby told him he had permission. Advertisement When Kirilov was finishing up the work, Belford's property manager showed up. He knew nothing about the tree cutting or clean up, according to the statement. 'I was surprised to find that out,' Kirilov's statement said. Kirilov said he called Jacoby and put him on the phone with the property manager. After they spoke, the property manager told Kirilov he could leave, documents show. Tonya Alanez can be reached at
New York Post
03-07-2025
- New York Post
Nantucket homeowner lists property for $10M after chopping down neighbor's 50-year-old trees to create ‘sweeping' ocean views: lawsuit
A Nantucket homeowner secretly chopped down a litany of his neighbor's 50-year-old trees to carve out 'sweeping views' of the Atlantic Ocean for a property he listed for nearly $10 million, a lawsuit alleged. Patricia Belford claims her neighbor, Jonathan Jacoby, trespassed onto her property in February and leveled 16 towering cedar, cherry, and Leyland cypress trees – gutting her property's charm and value to enhance the views from the upper level of his home. Months later, Jacoby put the four-bedroom, three-bath Massachusetts house at 3 Tautemo Way on the market for $9.975 million, touting the endless blue horizon, a selling point notably absent from the property's previous listing, according to the Nantucket Superior Court lawsuit filed on June 23. Advertisement 4 Aerial view of the feuding Nantucket houses near the ocean. LINK MLS A prior listing showed the .46-acre property sold for $1.825 million — $30,000 over the asking price. 'The way I feel is that I am confident once all of the facts and evidence have been presented, that justice will be served,' Matt Erisman, Belford's property manager, told the Nantucket Current. Advertisement 'However, much of what has been taken from the Belfords is irreplaceable, and it's sickening.' The 30-foot brushes, planted by the Belford family in the 1970s and carefully maintained since, stood just beyond the shared boundary with the alleged vandal's property, creating a natural barrier along the roadway that provided shade, aesthetic appeal, privacy, reduced noise, the filing states. 4 Cut tree stumps and branches in a yard pictured in the lawsuit. Superior Court – Nantucket Erisman discovered the alleged arbor assault when he spotted the savaged trunks and Jacoby's former landscaper, Krasimir Kirilov, clearing away debris from the 1 Tautemo Way home. Advertisement Kirilov later told police that Jacoby personally hacked down the trees and hired him to haul away the wreckage – with the property owner's supposed permission, the suit alleges. 'I was just about to complete the cleanup when the caretaker Matt came to the property, and at that moment I realized he was not aware of the cleanup work I was doing,' the shaken gardener said in a March 11 statement to the Nantucket Police Department. 4 A picture of Cut down tree stumps and surrounding debris included in the suit. Superior Court – Nantucket 'I was surprised to find that out, and I explained what was going on, and he said he had no idea about it.' Advertisement Authorities have since launched an investigation into the vegetation massacre, with charges now pending against Jacoby, the local outlet reported. Nantucket police did not immediately provide information to The Post regarding the case. 4 Trees removed from the yard to create the ocean view. Superior Court – Nantucket Belford is seeking over $1.4 million in damages – valuing each mutilated tree at roughly $486,000. Bay State law punishes anyone who willfully mows down trees on someone else's land without permission by tripling the damages owed. Jacoby's attorney, Jim Merberg, told The Post that his client had permission to cut down the trees. 'My client is firmly of the belief that he had permission to take down these dead trees,' Merberg said, noting he toppled the evergreens during the day and with 'transparency.' 'He did it in a way a person clearly with permission would do it. It will all get sorted out in court down the road.'
