Last week saw a flurry of big news in our industry. We wondered what you thought about it. First, Planet Fitness, Dover, NH, is putting World Gym up for sale just two years after purchasing the company. At least two groups are very interested in purchasing the franchising company, but as of yet, no deal has been set. Are you a World Gym franchisee? We’d like to hear what you have to say about the possible sale. Comment on the blog to let us know. Or if you’d rather keep your comments private, e-mail Stuart directly at stuart.goldman@penton.com.

The other big news last week was 24 Hour Fitness’ lawsuit against Bally Total Fitness alleging that Bally illegally hired new CEO Michael Sheehan away from 24 Hour to gain access to trade secrets. Does 24 Hour have a leg to stand on? We’ll keep on top of the story–as well as keep an eye on any additional departures of 24 Hour executives as the management at that company continues to shake out after Mark Mastrov’s departure as chairman back in January. What do you think is happening at 24 Hour? Let us know by clicking on the comment button below.

Another big news item was the Gold’s Gym convention in Las Vegas earlier this week. Some of the franchisees have expressed concern about several issues related to corporate. Stuart is working on a story about this for our August issue. So stay tuned for that! - Pamela

Planet Fitness has a new employee handling its public relations, and he’s a name you might recognize.

John Craig, editor of the now-defunct Fitness Business News, came to Planet Fitness about two weeks ago. John and FBN and our magazine became direct competitors when FBN was launched early last year. John, formerly of the Boston Globe, and I share a bond of being former newspaper men. (Don’t get me started about the cuts being made in the newspaper industry these days). It was always good to see John at trade shows a couple of times a year, and it was good to hear his voice when he called me today.

There’s mixed feelings, of course, when a competitor like FBN, which ceased operations last month, goes away or is somehow eliminated. You’re excited about the opportunity to get more stories and have more people read your stuff. But competition is good because it keeps you on your toes. There’s nothing like the highs of beating the competition on a story or the lows of getting beat on a story.

You worry about people losing their jobs when you hear about a publication ceasing operations, especially in these troubling times. Fortunately, John has landed on his feet, and so, too, has FBN managing editor Brian Davidson, who John says is working at another magazine within the company that owned FBN.

The good thing for John is that he gets to drive 10 minutes to work now as opposed to about an hour to his old job. With gas prices the way they are, that’s definitely a company perk. –Stuart

Today, I was finally able to meet Dr. Kenneth Cooper, founder of the Cooper Institute and coiner of the term “aerobics.” OK, I didn’t actually meet him in person as I hoped I would when I went to Dallas in February. Instead, I met him as journalists often meet the people they interview–over the phone.

I had set up the interview several weeks ago, since this busy man’s schedule was quickly filling up for the month of July, and I needed to interview him for a profile about him that I’m writing for our September issue. He is, after all, the recipient of our Lifetime Achievement Award this year at the Club Industry show in October and the keynote speaker at the trade show.

I have to say that he’s a man excited about what he does. And today, he was especially excited as yesterday he’d participated in a press conference about the results of physical fitness testing done on more than 2.5 million school children in Texas. The physical fitness test used was Fitnessgram, a program that he helped develop, and that he helped fund with his own money and private donations to get into Texas schools. The results of the testing weren’t good. We’ll be offering more details on the results on our site soon.

However, the release of the results yesterday helped prove the sorry state of children’s physical fitness in Texas, and that, he indicated to me, may help the state, schools and parents work together to change the situation. He was also excited because at least another 14 states have been in contact with him about implementing the testing in their states.

Dr. Cooper told me that he sees improving the fitness level of children in this country as his mission now. In fact, he even said that he doesn’t think that he will be remembered for coining the term “aerobics” as much as he will be for helping to turn the tide of the obesity epidemic in children.

For more of what Dr. Cooper said, watch for the profile on him to appear in our September issue. –Pam