Latest news with #MikeButler
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Discussion over possible Sand Hill Scout Reservation sale held despite former owner's dying wish
The Brief Controversy surrounding a portion of the Boy Scouts' Sand Hill Reservation was addressed Wednesday evening. The Boy Scouts Greater Tampa Bay Area Council wants to sell a portion of the 1,400-acre reservation in Brooksville to the Withlacoochee River Electric Co-op. The land battle has been going on since September 2024, when residents learned the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council was in talks to negotiate the sale. BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - Controversy surrounding a portion of the Boy Scouts' Sand Hill Reservation was addressed Wednesday evening. The backstory The Boy Scouts Greater Tampa Bay Area Council wants to sell a portion of the 1,400-acre reservation in Brooksville to the Withlacoochee River Electric Co-op. But, concerned citizens said it was the former property owner's dying wish to keep the property for the Boy Scouts. Follow FOX 13 on YouTube The land battle has been going on since September 2024, when residents learned the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council was in talks to negotiate the sale of 51 acres to the northwest of the property to the WREC. "They have a substation that's adjacent to our camp," Scout Executive Mike Butler said. "They approached us about perhaps carving out a portion of the camp for their purposes, for a new western district service center area and perhaps expansion of the substation." Dig deeper Butler said all proceeds from the sale would go towards reservation improvements for its four camps. READ:Brooksville community rallying around 100-year-old firetruck "Most of them are at least 50 years old, two of them are almost 100 years old," he said. "Many of them have not had a lot of improvements or upgrades over the years." That's in addition to more inclusive sleep and restroom areas, sports facility enhancements, and recreational structural improvements. The other side Warren Hunt said a road in the reservation was named after his grandfather who helped acquire the land from the former property owner, Larry Die Polder. Hunt said, according to Die Polder's will, "Mr. Die Polder, when he passed away, donated it to the scouts, and it was supposed to stay a scout's camp forever. If it doesn't stay a scout's camp, it's supposed to go back to the county for a park." The Greater Tampa Bay Area Council found a discrepancy between Die Polder's will and the land deed and said the Scouts actually have full rights to the land with no restrictions. MORE: Brooksville bride brings wedding ceremony to dying grandmother, garners 1M views on TikTok In a Wednesday evening Public Inquiry Workshop with Hernando County reps and The Greater Tampa Bay Area Council, the proposal details were shared with the community. Hunt said this could be a slippery slope into more commercial land sales. "I wish the commissioners would think long and hard about what they're planning on doing here," he explained. "It's a Pandora's Box. Once they open it up, they're going to continue to wiggle off and sell portions of it." Barber would not comment on future commercial land sales. "Our primary focus right now is just working with Withlacoochee River Electric and consummating that arrangement partnership," he said. "We have every intention to remain here as a scout camp for generations to come." What's next The topic will be further discussed in a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in the coming weeks. The Source The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis. WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app:Apple |Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
CBS News
23-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Attack ads in Pittsburgh's mayoral race funded by so-called dark money
Pittsburgh's race for mayor has taken a dark turn with one side accusing the other of making sweetheart deals or taking MAGA money along with accusations of racist tactics. It's all being fueled by so-called "dark money" — unlimited amounts of cash spent by political action committees on TV attack ads and mailers. "We're a month out and it's already this nasty, so past experience tells us it will only get worse," said political consultant Mike Butler. PACs are funding these ads with hundreds of thousands of dollars in so-called independent expenditures. There's no limit on what they can spend as long as they don't communicate or coordinate with a candidate's campaign. "And people don't know who's behind these PACs," said KDKA-TV's Andy Sheehan. "And that's very unfortunate for our voters to not have a full sense of who is making the messages and who's behind those messages," Butler said. On the O'Connor side, the mailers and coming TV ads are being funded by a PAC called Common Sense Action. Campaign filings show local trade unions and old line Democrats like Pennsylvania state Sen. Wayne Fontana have contributed $264,000 to the PAC. On the Gainey side, the anti-O'Connor ads are the product of Pennsylvania Working Families Party — a PAC based in Philadelphia. It's part of a national organization dedicated to the election of progressive candidates. Its most recent filing showed $64,000 on hand, but its total expenditures and contributors won't be learned until another filing at the end of the month. "Needs reform?" Sheehan asked. "I think so," Butler said. Butler says dark money funds attack ads and the messages will likely get nastier and nastier — emotions stoked by faceless PACs with unlimited cash to spend. "I don't think anyone could be happy with where we are now," Butler said. Before this is all over, close to $2 million will have been spent on this race, with more than a half million dollars in the form of independent expenditures — a lot of money for a race in Pittsburgh with voters only in the tens of thousands.
