Best News Story
TIE: Planned Parenthood Defunded; Occupy Austin
It may not be the best story, but it's really a sad one: With the state's move to cut millions from the family planning budget and to cut Planned Parenthood out of the state-run Women's Health Program, the real losers are the tens of thousands of women who rely on Planned Parenthood's clinics for basic health care. That said, if any group can rise from the rubble intact and stronger than ever it's the nearly 100-year-old nonprofit – so they may be down right now, but with supporters like those in Austin, it would be foolish ever to count Planned Parenthood out. Tying for the best story this year we have the tale of the Occupy Austin movement, which has seen its fair share of highs and lows this year – including the recent revelation that undercover APD officers may have induced protesters to use at an action in Houston a device that would see a handful of them arrested on felony charges. Still, while getting punked with the rap might dampen the day for many, for the optimistic souls of Occupy there is still an insistence that the world can – and must – be a better place.