Merit

Sept. 16 (UPI) — A group of Scouts from underserved communities will get a chance to earn up to 40 merit badges in one day at Morehouse University in Atlanta.

The event, Alpha Merit Badge University, was created and is managed by members of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. The event will host 300-350 youth from Scouting America and local councils on Sept. 27.

While earning their badges, including some Eagle-required badges, Scouts can engage with accomplished Alpha brothers, college students and community professionals who serve as merit-badge counselors, mentors and role models.

AMBU Chair Derek Smith said the event has been happening since 2023, and the fraternity’s affiliation with Scouting America, formerly Boy Scouts of America, has been in place since 2015.

Smith said that, as the father of a son who is working to become an Eagle Scout, he noticed some inequities.

“I just saw that Black Eagle Scouts are a unicorn,” Smith said in an interview. “[They’re] very hard to find. A half of 1% of all Eagle Scouts are Black Eagle Scouts.”

Smith spoke to former Scouts of different ages, and “they all said the same thing — that they were not given the same access or the same resources as the other Scouts. If they were told about merit badge clinics, it would be at the end and they were all filled up, or they would be so far out. So, I wanted to establish and create a merit badge clinic in metro Atlanta, where Scouts on the south side of Atlanta can get to because there was nothing for them.”

This year, the event has something new. Scouts who have partial badges completed but need someone to sign off on them can get that accomplished. The event also has combined several badges so that Scouts can use classes to apply for more than one badge.

The Scouts can’t just attend and load up on badges, though. They must take what they’ve learned at the AMBU and then do the work back home. Or, in some cases, they can do the work in advance and come in and take the class at AMBU. For example, a Scout working on an aviation merit badge would have to visit an airport or aviation museum to complete their learning for the badge, Smith said.

Smith said the event is going national and even international. Other cities are planning to host their own AMBU events. Some cities Smith mentioned include Charlotte, N.C.; Houston; central New Jersey; Oakland, Calif.; and Birmingham, Ala.

Next year, Smith said the organization hopes to have Alpha Merit Badge University Day the first Saturday in October, on which there will be AMBU events in each of the fraternity’s five regions.

Some classes available to participants include: environmental science and energy; safety and fire safety; crime prevention and fingerprinting; citizenship in the nation and world; engineering and inventing; entrepreneurship and sales; disability awareness and more.

The day includes an opening ceremony, Alpha Merit Badge classes, collaborative Alpha chapter strolling performances, a Real Talk panel and closing ceremony.

Alpha Phi Alpha partners with Scouting America because of the fraternity’s goal of encouraging leadership, Smith said.

“At Alpha, we develop leaders at college and professionally, but also, Boy Scouts develops leaders at a younger age,” he said. “So it just makes sense that we have similar missions that we would help out to start developing leaders at a younger age. And it’s a win-win for everyone. It’s a win-win for the youth. It’s a win-win for the community. It’s a win-win for us. It’s all about creating and developing future leaders.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday denied an appeal by the Associated Press for a hearing on its efforts to restore full access to cover presidential events, not ending its case but allowing the White House to continue its control over access to President Trump.

The news outlet wanted the court to overturn a three-judge panel’s June 6 ruling not to let AP back into the events until merits of the news organization’s lawsuit against Trump was decided. But the court on Tuesday declined to hear that appeal.

It all stems from Trump’s decision in February to keep AP journalists out of the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events too small for a full press corps, in retaliation for the news outlet’s decision not to follow his lead in changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name.

The AP sued in response. In April, a district court ruled that the administration could not exclude journalists based on their opinions. The Trump administration immediately turned to the U.S. Court of Appeals to successfully delay implementation of the ruling before the court could consider the full merits of the case.

Next up: This fall, the appeals court considers those full merits.

“We are disappointed by today’s procedural decision but remain focused on the strong district court opinion in support of free speech as we have our case heard,” said Patrick Maks, an AP spokesman. “As we’ve said throughout, the press and the public have a fundamental right to speak freely without government retaliation.”

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.

Since the start of the case, the White House has instituted new rules for access to the limited-space events. AP photographers have been regularly permitted back, but its reporters only occasionally.

On Monday, the White House said it would not allow a reporter from the Wall Street Journal onto Air Force One to cover Trump’s weekend trip to Scotland because of the outlet’s “fake and defamatory conduct” in a story about the president and late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Bauder writes for the Associated Press.

Merit Street Media, the TV network launched last year by talk show host Phil McGraw, has filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors and is suing its distribution partner, Trinity Broadcasting Network.

McGraw’s company filed the suit Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court claiming Fort Worth-based Christian media firm Trinity, or TBN, failed to meet its obligations to provide studio space and secure TV stations and pay TV distributors to carry Merit.

McGraw, who hosted the successful syndicated talk show “Dr. Phil” for 21 years, entered a joint venture in 2023 with Trinity, which agreed to carry Merit on its TV stations across the country and provide production services.

But according to the suit, McGraw is funding the struggling venture out of his pocket — shelling out $25 million over six months. The company laid off 40 employees in June and had to terminate its TV deal with Professional Bull Riders after failing to pay its rights fee.

Merit Street’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing lists the company’s liabilities at $100 million to $500 million. The document, filed in Texas, gives the same range for the value of Merit Street’s assets. Like TBN, Merit Street is based in Fort Worth.

TBN did not respond to a request for comment on the suit.

Merit Street carries “Dr. Phil Primetime,” in which the host delivers right-of-center political commentary as well as guest interviews. The program was put on summer hiatus when the June layoffs were announced.

McGraw recently attracted attention when the show had a camera embedded with Immigration and Customs Enforcement during immigration raids in Los Angeles.

McGraw, once a practicing psychologist, became a self-help guru propelled to fame by Oprah Winfrey, who hired him to help prepare her for a libel case brought by the Texas Beef Group in 1996. Since leaving his daily talk show, he has emerged as a political commentator who is supportive of President Trump.

Merit also has a nightly newscast and a true crime program featuring veteran legal commentator Nancy Grace.

The lawsuit claims Merit’s operations were hampered by TBN’s contracted technical services, which it described as “comically dysfunctional.” Teleprompters and monitors allegedly blacked out during live programs with a studio audience.

TBN was using “amateur” video editing software and Merit staff were unable to use phones in the studio due to poor cellphone coverage, the suit added.

McGraw’s company, Peteski Productions, launched Merit in a joint venture with TBN, which offers religious programming to its TV stations and affiliates across the country.

As the majority owner, TBN was required to provide all back office and production services for Merit. TBN was also obligated to cover the cost of distributing Merit’s programs on its outlets and pay TV providers, the suit said.

The lawsuit claims TBN failed to provide that service, forcing Merit Street to enter its own agreements to get the network carried on TV stations and cable and satellite providers at a cost of $96 million. TBN’s failure to pay led to a number of TV stations to drop Merit Street programming.

The suit also claims TBN failed to deliver promised marketing and promotional services, only providing minimal social media advertising.

TBN missed a $5-million payment to Merit in July 2024, which led the partners to change the terms of their arrangement, the complaint said. Merit became the 70% owner, with TBN taking a 30% stake. But the suit claims TBN still failed to meet its contractual obligations.

The suit said that TBN’s failure to fund Merit forced McGraw and Peteski to provide $25.4 million to finance the network’s operations from December 2024 to May 2025.