A reader emails me: “This was just sent from Greg Osberg, the head of PMN [Philadelphia Media Network], to all of the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com employees.”

Today, the Inquirer will publish a story on Philly.com about allegations of child molestation by Bill Conlin, a former sports columnist at the Daily News. There were several very specific claims, from multiple victims and their families, to support our decision to publish this article. We have always taken tremendous pride in the ethical and moral standards we operate from at PMN. I am sickened by these allegations. It is important to me that you know that we have accepted his retirement today. I will be meeting with the department managers this afternoon, and they will in turn, be meeting with you to answer questions.

Greg

* Four say they were molested by Philly Daily News sports columnist

Three women and a man tell the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Nancy Phillips that Philadelphia Daily News sports columnist Bill Conlin groped and fondled them during the 1970s, when they were from ages 7 to 12.

“This is a tragedy,” Kelley Blanchet, a niece of Conlin’s who said he molested her when she was a child, tells Phillips. “People have kept his secret. It’s not just the victims, it’s the victims’ families. There were so many people who knew about this and did nothing.”

Conlin, who has been with the Daily News for four decades, retired today.

Phillips told me she started working on the story a couple of weeks ago after “one of the women called to tell me” about the abuse.

* Four say Philly Daily News writer Bill Conlin sexually abused them as children (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Bill Conlin

Deadspin is reporting that longtime Philadelphia Daily News sports columnist Bill Conlin has resigned and that Philadelphia Inquirer investigative reporter Nancy Phillips is about to come out with a story containing child molestation allegations against him. I’ve put in calls to Phillips and editors at both papers. Deadspin says Conlin has hired a lawyer and is at his condo in Largo, Fla. || UPDATE: KYW 1060 in Philadelphia reports the Inquirer story about the Conlin allegations involve molestation of girls 40 years ago, according to this tweet.

Christine Rousselle

Providence College student Christine Rousselle says she received at least five marriage proposals after writing about how she witnessed “massive amounts of welfare fraud and abuse” while working as a Walmart cashier. She says that abuse included “extravagant purchases made with food stamps; including, but not limited to: steaks, lobsters, and giant birthday cakes.” Rousselle was also upset by:

People ignoring me on their iPhones while the state paid for their food. (For those of you keeping score at home, an iPhone is at least $200, and requires a data package of at least $25 a month. If a person can spend $25+ a month so they can watch YouTube 24/7, I don’t see why they can’t spend that money on food.)

Rousselle tells the Bangor Daily News that “I’ve actually gotten five marriage proposals from this. Or at least five. I haven’t checked the comments yet today.” She adds: “I’m floored by all of this. …I’m having the time of my life. I would love to do this full-time. My dream job is to be Ann Coulter.” (Coulter praised Rousselle’s column in a tweet.)

The college junior’s next move is to set her critics straight.

I’m planning another post – ‘Christine is not a monster’ – just to clear up some misconceptions. Oddly enough, there have been comments accusing me of being a racist. Well, Maine is 94 percent white, and the people I referenced in the column were white. People are going to read what they want to read. One person called me a pretty little privileged white girl. No. That’s not true. It’s very weird to be attacked on a personal level.

* My Time at Walmart: Why We Need Serious Welfare Reform (College Conservative)
* Student Gets Marriage Offers After Welfare Column Goes Viral (Bangor Daily News)

UPDATE: There are a lot of comments about this post on my Facebook page. Friend me if want to read them.