Teen with Terminal Cancer Dies Peacefully After Getting Prom Wish

By Stephen M. Silverman

• Courtesy of Katelyn Norman

Her two-year battle with cancer is over, and 14-year-old Katelyn Norman was granted a peaceful exit.

On Friday morning, a post on her fundraising page read, "Sweet Kate went to be with the Lord at 8:23am. She is now dancing with Jesus! Rest in Peace Katelyn!"

The night before, friend Kristi Buckner shared an update via Katelyn's mother, writing, "The Drs. have sedated Kate. We pray she goes peacefully in her sleep."

During her all-too brief lifetime, Katelyn had earned the love and respect of her hometown, Campbell County, Tenn., which, after her diagnosis with aggressive bone cancer called osteosarcoma, not only worked to make her bucket list come true, but proudly wore green as a sign of community support for her.

Topping Kate's list was a trip to Italy, which sadly did not come to pass. But two other major wishes were granted – to attend her school prom and to ride a motorcycle.

The prom at school was held in her honor this week, with a special gathering simultaneously taking place in her room at Tennessee Children's Hospital. And her motorcycle ride took place some days before, as she rode in the car and the bikers circled around her.

Also on Katelyn's list was to see the band Of Mice & Men in concert and pick up an autographed T-shirt from them. The group's fans responded by flooding the band's Facebook page and Twitter accounts and linking to Katelyn's story, reports ABC News.

Tweeted the band's lead vocalist Austin Carlile earlier this week: "I told her not to be afraid because she wouldn't be alone. My mom is already an angel and would be taking care of her."

In Friday's message, Carlile said, "Heaven gained another angel this morning. #RIPKatelynNorman Her light will never go out. She'll always be in my heart. I promised her that."

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Fear Of Becoming A 'Bag Lady' Someday? Many Others Do, Too

Fear becoming a 'bag lady' someday? Many others do, too

By Amy Langfield, TODAY contributor

If you spend time worrying that you'll end up on the street in your old age with your belongings stuffed into plastic bags in a shopping cart, you have good company.

A new survey shows that almost half of American women fear they will become "bag ladies" some day, and the anxiety ripples across all income groups.

Even among women with household earnings above $200,000, 27 percent harbor the bag-lady fear, according to a new online survey issued by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.
While Allianz is promoting the survey to encourage women to seek more financial-planning advice, the underlying concern is valid, according to a labor economist who studies aging and income issues.
Because women typically earn less and have more sporadic work histories, their pensions and benefits are less sturdy, said Barbara Butrica, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute’s Income and Benefits Policy Center. “They are starting retirement at a disadvantage,” she said.
Women also tend to live longer than men. “So she’ll have to make that income last a lot longer time,” Butrica said.
Among the over-65 set, non-married women have the highest poverty rates. While only 4 percent of married women over 65 fell below the poverty line in 2010, that number rose to 14 percent for widows over 65 and 18 percent for divorced women over 65, Butrica said.
For men over 65 living in poverty, 4 percent were married; 11 percent were widowers and 12 percent were divorced. The gender differences are even more striking, Butrica said, when you consider that in 2010, only 29.5 percent of men age 65 or older were not married, compared with 56.3 percent of women. Those numbers come from the Social Security Administration's 2012 report on “Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2010.”
But should even women with very good jobs fret about being homeless one day?
“It’s highly unlikely. But it could happen,” Butrica said, citing the likelihood that a catastrophic illness is more likely to strike as you get older. “The fact that these women are thinking about it is a good thing.”

And indeed more women are planning for retirement, especially since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, according to the Allianz survey.More than 90 percent of the women who responded to the survey said women need to be more involved in financial planning. The strongest agreement, 96 percent, came from divorced women.Overall, 57 percent of the respondents said they both "have more earning power than ever before" and 60 percent said they are the primary breadwinner in their household

The Women, Money & Power Study was conducted by Larson Research + Strategy in Dec 2012 as an opt-in, online survey with 2,213 women, ages 25 through 75, with an annual household income of at least $30,000. The numbers are representative of the U.S. female population based on age and geographic distribution and are weighted to reflect the most recent and accurate available U.S. Census proportions.

Texas Advances Bill To Require Drug Screening For Welfare

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

Texas lawmakers moved forward with a bill Tuesday that would require welfare applicants to be screened for drug use.

The bill authored by State Senator Jane Nelson, the Republican chairwoman of the committee, was approved by the state senate’s Health and Human Services Committee.

It would require applicants to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program to undergo screening by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Under Nelson’s bill, applicants who appear to use drug or have been convicted for drug use will be subjected to testing. Applicants who test positive for drugs would be barred from receiving TANF funds for 12 months.

“Drug abuse destroys families, harms children and prevents individuals from living healthy, independent lives,” Nelson said in a press release on Tuesday. “Because TANF is a direct cash assistance program, we have a responsibility to ensure that these funds are not being used to support a person’s drug habit.”
Texas Governor Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst have thrown their support behind the bill.
“Texas taxpayers will not subsidize or tolerate illegal drug abuse,” Perry said in a statement in November. “Every dollar that goes to someone who uses it inappropriately is a dollar that can’t go to a Texan who needs it for housing, child care or medicine.”

One hundred thousand Texans a year are enrolled in TANF, according to Nelson’s office.
The bill will go to the Texas House of Representatives if it passes a vote in the full Senate.