News is breaking today that the woman who was thought to have been behind Susan G. Komen for the Cure's move to defund Planned Parenthood grants has resigned.

Karen Handel, the charity’s vice president for public policy, told Komen officials that she supported the move to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. She said the discussion started before she arrived at the organization and was approved at the highest levels of the charity.

“I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it,” Handel said in her letter. “I openly acknowledge my role in the matter and continue to believe our decision was the best one for Komen’s future and the women we serve.”

Think this will help? I doubt it since the fury over this decision doesn't seem to be subsiding. Having done many of these races including the first one in the Tampa Bay area in 1999, I find this so sad. Running those races was an awesome feeling, like girl power in action.

What would it take to get back to a united front against breast cancer? ... Read more

It's really heart-breaking to read this story today from our colleague Leonora LaPeter Anton about a judge forced to decide whether a boy who has lived and bonded with his foster parents for about two years should stay with them or be placed with a great-great-aunt he hardly knows. As Anton points out, the law is a good one to try to keep families together.

She writes: Family Finders, which in Hills­borough, Hernando and several other counties is funded by a federal grant, has produced heartwarming stories. A pair of teen boys reconnected in Texas with their father, who they thought had died. A toddler whose mother was in jail went to an older cousin in Tampa. A 9-year-old boy whose mother overdosed was placed with a Kentucky aunt within 72 hours. ... Read more

All the parents who plan to race home from work Monday to throw a fast dinner together before shuffling kids out the door to trick-or-treat will likely be chearing on Rep. Tim Larson of Connecticut.  He made the news last week with his idea to get his state to declare Halloween to be held "officially" on the last Saturday of October, regardless of the date.

It’s difficult for parents to get their sugar-saturated trick-or-treaters off to bed in time for school the next morning, he said. Moving the festivities to a Saturday would also enable the younger children to kick off their trick-or-treating earlier in the day when visibility is better.

Having just had three years when it fell on weekend nights, I have to say this idea is very appealing. ... Read more

Instead of repairing or replacing playgrounds, the city of Clearwater, strapped by budget cuts, is tearing them down. As our colleague Drew Harwell reports here, nine of the city's 34 playgrounds were destroyed within the last five years, city records show. Five more are scheduled for demolition by 2019.

City parks and recreation director Kevin Dunbar defended the demolition  as a safety measure. The playground equipment in one case was 17 years old — past a playground's "typical lifespan" of 12 to 15 years, city spokeswoman Joelle Castelli said. Replacing it would have cost between $50,000 and $75,000.

How sad is this? Sure they are saving repair money, but the initial investment is thrown down the toilet. To rebuild those playgrounds later I would imagine would be much costlier than the repair bill. ... Read more