The American Cancer Society (ACS) of Ohio has filed a lawsuit challenging the state's workplace smoking ban. The ban exempts some military veterans' halls and other private clubs -- and the ASC says this is not OK.

The exemption waters down the law and exposes people to secondhand smoke, say ACS spokeswoman Wendy Simpkins.

The smoking ban was approved by 58 percent of voters in November, took effect in December, and will result in fining beginning the first week in May. The law prohibits smoking in most public places, such as restaurants, bars, and office and excludes tobacco shops, designated hotel rooms, and enclosed areas of nursing homes. Halls and clubs can be excluded from the law only if there are no employees.

Jay Carey, spokesman for the state Health Department, says public health officials have the authority to set rules for enforcement. They ultimately decided that VFW halls and other private clubs were exempt if they had only members as employees. For the exemption to apply, such clubs also must be nonprofit and in a freestanding building. No nonmembers or children under age 18 can be present.

The ACS argues that the state rules are confusing and make the law unworkable.

Joey, my oldest child, is six years old and already quite a clever creator. He can make houses out of sticks and boats out of cardboard boxes. He can build an entire city with toy blocks and crafty cabins with the same Lincoln Logs his daddy used more than 30 years ago. Most recently, Joey has been sharpening his skills with Lego.

Today, while his daddy built him a Lego jet, Joey constructed his own masterpiece. He called it his Cancer Center.

I wasn't around to hear Joey dedicate his building to such an important cause. But I heard about it after the fact when Joey offered me a mini-tour of the structure. I learned that the center has a helicopter landing pad and offices with windows for the employees. I was shown an emergency vehicle with its own system for taking blood from patients, rendering it healthy, and then returning it to the body. And then just as I wanted more -- more details, more specifics, more history on just why he built this cancer center -- Joey's attention moved elsewhere. And so I know nothing more about the cancer center sitting in the playroom of my house.

Cancer is no strange topic for Joey who has been along on my own cancer ride for the past two years -- so perhaps I am the inspiration for his architectural creation. But I suspect the real driving force behind Joey's latest project is the vacant land we passed yesterday. This land is the future site of a new cancer center in our city, and Joey probably heard me talking about the ground breaking ceremony that just took place. Regardless, cancer was on his mind this morning. And while the topic may be far from his mind now -- and I'm sure the building will be demolished by the day's end -- I am touched that for mere moments, Joey was invested in a noble cancer endeavor.

Tonight at 8:00 PM on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, television viewers get to witness the week-long renovation of a 135-year-old farmhouse belonging to 26-year-old Shawna Farina and her three children.

It's not just the powerful makeover of this drafty Indiana house that makes for a touching story. It's the fact that Farina has been surviving breast cancer for the past 18 months, raising three children, working, raising money, and organizing her local American Cancer Society Relay For Life walks -- while living in an old, drafty farmhouse -- that makes this story truly inspirational.

Inspired by her mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was a child, Farina became involved with Relay For Life -- a yearly, overnight event held in more than 4,700 communities to celebrate cancer survivorship. And now, in tandem with Farina's extreme makeover, volunteers from 18 different Relay for Life events across southern Indiana have been honoring Farina through Extreme Relay For Life events consisting of five back-to-back 24-hour relays. More than 5,000 people and the cast of crew of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition participated while construction took place on Farina's house.

It all unfolds this evening -- the story of one courageous young woman raising awareness about breast cancer in the midst of her own battle. And the story of one dedicated bunch of supporters who are building her spirit -- and rebuilding her home.

I really do believe deep down in my gut that I will survive breast cancer -- that I will witness the wonder of my children growing up, that I will be married long enough that the years blur together, that I will live to a ripe old age. But I still have moments of doubt -- moments powerful enough to make me think I should not have a third child, just in case cancer comes back. To combat these moments -- that seem to surface more now that my treatment has stopped -- I try to keep busy, keep my mind occupied, keep living. My steps for surviving in the short-term include writing, journaling, exercising, relaxing, and spending time with family. But I also follow some steps for long-term survival -- steps that transcend the moment and give me purpose and direction. And here are seven of them.

Chili's restaurant is the place to be on September 25 -- because 100 percent of profits earned on this day will go to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital -- the only hospital for sick children that does not require anyone to pay for treatment. So fundraising is key -- and Chili's has cooked up all sorts of creative ways to help conquer cancer in children.

Besides Donate All Our Profits Day, Chili's is sponsoring a program called Creativity for a Cause -- where customers make a donation and then color a rendering of a pepper. The coloring sheets are displayed at participating restaurants in a chain-like fashion, hanging from the ceilings. Create a Pepper gift cards are also available. For every $25 spent on gift cards, Chili's will donate $1 to St. Jude's. And t-shirts -- black with a white pepper gracing the front -- can be purchased for $12. Kids can even have fun on-line with Chili's crafty creations, including an interactive pepper coloring activity.

All this fundraising goes hand in hand with the development of the Chili's Care Center -- a St. Jude's state-of-the-art building dedicated to groundbreaking research on brain tumors. The center is scheduled to open in Fall 2007 -- thanks to Chili's professionals who over the course of 10 years have donated a historic $50 million to St. Jude's.

Listening and Learning Together: Building a Bridge of Trust, is the first-ever Summit to assemble cancer advocates with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other National Institutes of Health (NIH) leaders taking place in Bethesda, Maryland . NCI Director's Consumer Liaison Group (DCLGO) will host this event on the campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where representatives from all segments of the cancer community will convene to give their constituents a strong voice and to help shape future interaction and collaboration between the National Cancer Institute and the community. The event is June 19–20 and will offer a unique opportunity for interaction and candid conversation with each other and with NCI and NIH leaders.

Registration and check in is at 8:00am at the Natcher Building Foyer. A tour of the campus will take place from 8:30am to Noon and the official opening ceremony will begin at 1:00pm in the Main Auditorium on the lower level of the Natcher Conference Center. For more information on the summit contact Mr. James Hadley the Advocacy Program Manager at the National Cancer Institute Office of Liaison Activities.