Free Republic

With so many American children struggling with obesity, you may not find joy in handing out globules of empty Halloween calories. The typical jack-o'-lantern bucket holds 250 small chocolate bars (about 9,000 calories), and 20 percent of kids eat every last piece they collect. If you don't want to be the neighborhood Scrooge who's giving out apples and dental floss—or worse, pulling toilet paper from your trees the next day—try these tricks to treat their sweet tooths without expanding their waistlines.

San Francisco is pulling out all the stops to prevent a party in the Castro tonight, including the unkindest cut of all - unleashing an army of tow trucks on hapless parkers. Police posted scores of "No Stopping" special event signs on several blocks surrounding the traditional Halloween party zone Tuesday. And as soon as the parking restrictions go into effect, starting at 1 p.m. Wednesday, officers will be on hand to write up $60 parking citations and call in tow trucks for $250-get-out-of-hock bills. The city Department of Parking and Traffic is putting 47 parking control officers on the...

Leisa Sinclair-Vick used to send her two sons to a San Francisco public school that was serious about Halloween. "They had extra costumes for kids who didn't bring them," she said. "People would get prizes for the most original costume, or the scariest or funniest." So Sinclair-Vick was dismayed to receive a notice recently from Cottage Elementary, the Arden Arcade school her sons now attend after she moved there last year. "I have been asked to let you know that no costumes of any kind will be allowed at school," the letter read. "Students cannot decorate their body in any...