@plsopenurmindb4uspk You are an amazing woman with a wonderful mind and ethic. I wish that so many others (black and white) were raised with your kind of integrity. You do those who came before you proud!!! Sorry but this is not a good place for 'kids to hang out'. At that time of the night they should be at home. Parents should be present. In this neighborhood there are good kids but there are even more kids who are out to infect them with bad influence. It does not matter if it is an athletic program, christian program or even a book club, there will be the thugs hoping to cause trouble. As a parent I can not imagine letting my teen go to that 'club'. I will give the benefit of the doubt and say that their intentions may have been good but obviously the wrong crowd has thrown that good intention out the window. It is now too much of a risk now.

We go to Dr. Tom who sees my 11 yr old and my 18 mo old special needs preemie. I LOVE everyone in his office. If an award could be given out for amazing care they would win. I have never had a problem getting an apt for my daughters. Everyone knows Good Ole Dr. Tom!!!!!!

@memphisexile you are a jerk!!! Now you are saying that if you eat in the store you are FAT? What an idiot. The woman is 30 weeks PREGNANT!!! She was feeling faint and felt that she needed something to eat. My God. I am pregnant and if my sugar drops too low I pass out so if I am feeling that way you bet I am going to dip my fingers into a bag of whatever!!! As a matter of fact I HAVE recently eaten in a store. The only difference is that because I am pregnant my mind is not quite as sharp as it normally is and I knew I would forget so my husband went to the front and paid and got a sticker marked 'paid'. Some times mistakes happen. She simply forgot, but do you think the child will forget how scary it was to be separated from her parents for any amount of time? They offered to pay for the sandwiches. The store went way overboard in my humble opinion.

Oh this story had me sobbing!!! I went to Bledsoe and my brothers played football there. It kind of hit home and made me think how I would feel if it were my family. Wow the Boring family is strong.

I have read all the comments here and I have to say that it does not matter what color their skin is, every person has the right to live peacefully without the fear of a stray bullet from one of these gang fights coming through their window, hitting their children. I suppose the CHOICE to be a gang member is easier than working hard for an education so they can be an EXAMPLE to others from the same neighborhood. I am white. I am also a mother. I believe EVERY child, no matter what color, has a chance in this world, it is up to the parents to lay the foundation and up to them to build on it. Yes, there is crime among all races. HOWEVER, the young black youth of today forget what their ancestors fought for. Died for. They are spitting in their faces while holding their hands out demanding to be paid back for the horrible things done to the ones who came before them. However, I did not own another person. I am sickened by the thought of it. I owe NO ONE anything. Yes, there is racism. But it goes BOTH ways. There are white, mexican and black gangs and there should be harsher laws to punish the members.

I think they are not giving the American people any credit at all!!! The illegals are doing jobs Americans don't want. That makes me mad. You ask anyone whose home is in foreclosure if they won't pick tomatoes or lay down irrigation systems if it means putting food on their table. As for the farmer... 8 out of 48 workers didn't show up for work? So you had 40 illegals on your farm? Should the farmers get fined for that? I'll bet the schools are no longer complaining of overcrowding are they?

Little Faith you are beautiful on the inside and out. What happened to you was such a horrible thing but you are stronger now. If anyone asks about the scars just know it is curiosity. My baby has had 7 surgeries and has a shunt (a bump under her scalp) and many scars. I tell her that they are her battle scars and she needs to be proud of them because it shows that she fought so hard for her life. Those scars will always be a reminder of her strength. There will always be questions. Eventually you surround yourself with people who don't even notice them anymore. You are a survivor. For anyone with children, we all need to teach our kids not to tease and that there are proper ways to ask questions.

This story had me in tears. God Bless Ms. Rus for taking a chance on another human being and not giving up. Mary had such a traumatic life stemming from abuse as a baby. She truly is a walking miracle. On the flip side, I think Patten Towers should be investigated, the city needs to stop being blind. I was homeless for a mere week trying to escape abuse with my daughter and at the time the woman's shelters were full to capacity. I had no where to go. I think the common misconception is that there is help and funding available and there just isn't. There are soooo many programs but those programs have no resources or man power to take the time on each case. And I do agree with the other poster... The city spending $1.2 million a year on McKamey Center for animals is insane. It is a sad day when the life of a human is not worth near as much as the life of an animal.

@canes0496 Bless you and your family for taking this young man in and giving him a chance. I have told my husband that if we were able we would foster to teens (of any race) due to the fact that these kids do age out and then what? They have no family. It breaks my heart to know that there are so many of them out there who have no one to cheer them on at their graduation and to encourage them to go to college. To be there at their wedding or to share with them the joy of their first child. Holidays. For those of you who make it a black/white issue, what is wrong with you? These are kids who have a family. I wish every child could be saved and given a chance in this world. Be happy for the ones who do find loving and supportive families, do not bash the ones who open their homes and hearts to them!!!

Another example... If they would hand down stricter punishments and actually made these criminals serve time he would have still been in prison and this would not have happened.