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Ban on gay adoptions in Florida ruled unconstitutional
The rights of gay parents to adopt in Florida just took a big step forward. On Wednesday, a Miami appeals court ruled unanimously – 3-0 – that the state’s 33-year-old ban on adoptions by gay men and women is unconstitutional. Though the case may yet advance to the Florida Supreme Court for a final resolution, the ruling has prompted Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to announce that he would stop enforcing the ban immediately.
The Miami Herald quotes from the appeals court’s 35-page opinion:
“Given a total ban on adoption by homosexual persons, one might expect that this reflected a legislative judgment that homosexual persons are, as a group, unfit to be parents … No one in this case has made, or even hinted at, any such argument.
Should a toy ruin a child's educational career?
Sam Burgos, an 8-year-old school boy in Broward County, FL, was suspended last November after bringing a toy gun to school, NBC reports. Pembroke Pines Charter School has a zero-tolerance policy against weapons, and because the toy was capable of firing projectiles, they considered it a threat.
Burgos’s parents respected the school’s decision to suspend their son for the year, but they received quite a shock when they tried to re-enroll him in class this fall. Broward County school officials have informed the family that Sam will not be allowed back into second grade this year – unless he’s willing to attend a correctional school for problem children. What gives? Continue reading »
Oil is still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, but Market Watch reports that BP hopes to have a cap in place by July 15 that “could capture up to 80,000 barrels of oil a day, believed to be more than the entire output of the riser.” BP is currently drilling a relief well, anticipated to be complete by August, that would “act as the permanent solution for the renegade pipe.”
Cleanup in the Gulf is ongoing, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that “BP recovered a total of 25,150 barrels of oil” yesterday. But “Government and independent scientists estimate that about 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil a day are flowing from the well.”
We haven’t yet addressed the BP spill in a full-length post on Strollerderby, and what is there to say really, besides the fact that it’s catastrophic and devastating? In order for most of us to wrap our heads around a tragedy of this magnitude, we need to put a face on it. And I may have just found a little girl who can become the poster child for the Gulf oil spill. Continue reading »
It’s a continual lament around our house — there are so few films that are suitable for young children. My mother-in-law likes to take her grandkids to the movies, but it’s hard to find ones that we feel are acceptable. Being animated doesn’t automatically mean a film is okay for the little ones. Even Disney films are, in our house, “for big kids” because of the violence and gender stereotypes. So when a state decides to offer a tax credit for “family-friendly” films being made there, it sounds like an idea long overdue.
At 15, Florida teen Slader Pich is probably old enough to stay home alone during the day. But that didn’t stop trouble from finding him.
The teen was home sick from school when he heard knocking on the front door. In typical teen fashion, he ignored it. When the banging continued, he reached for his cell to call his parents, when suddenly he heard someone running up the stairs.
In March 2009, Samantha Burton, 29, went to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital while experiencing signs of pre-term labor while 25 weeks pregnant.
Her doctors prescribed 15 weeks of bed rest, but Burton explained that was impossible: She had two small children and a job. She then asked for a second opinion. She got one, but it wasn’t from a physician.
Burton’s doctor came back into her room with an attorney in tow and handed her a phone. She spoke to Leon Circuit Judge C. Cooper, who — without reviewing her medical records or even allowing her to speak to a legal advocate — ordered her to stay where she was and submit to “any and all medical treatments” her doctor’s deemed necessary. Burton asked to change hospitals, but was told it wasn’t in the best interest of her child.
Those treatments included an emergency c-section three days later, where Burton’s baby was delivered stillborn.
For the first time in recorded history, a Florida Keys family’s dreams of a White Christmas came true.
Howard and Cyndi Livingston sent their grandson out to play in the snow right on the ocean in the place where it hasn’t snowed in the one hundred thirty-nine years the Weather Service has kept track of weather patterns. Continue reading »
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
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Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
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