First on the Ticker: Palin will not run for re-election  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is expected to announce Friday that she will not seek a second term, three sources tell CNN.  —  Palin has scheduled a 3 p.m. ET news conference at her home in Wasilla.

Kristol: A Contrarian Take  —  If Palin wants to run in 2012, why not do exactly what she announced today?  It's an enormous gamble - but it could be a shrewd one.  —  After all, she's freeing herself from the duties of the governorship.  Now she can do her book, give speeches …

Palin To Resign, Focus on Presidential Run  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is looking to build a national political operation in advance of 2012.  (AP Photo/Chris Miller, File)  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office later this month, according to several sources familiar with her decision …

Breaking: Palin to resign within weeks?  Update: Is her career over?  —  No word as to why but Stephanopoulos has a hunch.  If it's related to her plans for next year, which way should Palinistas be rooting?  Presumably they hope she's not running for reelection so that she can devote herself full …

But I'm doing what's best for Alaska"  —  Lots of heavy media anticipation over a Sarah Palin announcement expected any minute from Wasilla.  —  Here's CBS: … Feel free to speculate.  —  Allahpundit has a developing round-up; multiple sources reporting that Palin will say she's not going to run for governor again in 2010.

A Letter to Sarah  —  You're blowing it.  —  We haven't met, but you might remember I was one of the first columnists to tout you for John McCain's running mate.  I cheered you mightily when Senator McCain selected you, and I still believe that you were the smartest choice he could have made given the obstacles before him.

Palin to Resign as Governor of Alaska  —  Update |  5:30 p.m. Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska announced Friday that she would step down by the end of the month and not seek a second term as governor, fueling speculation that she is seriously weighing whether to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012.

EXCLUSIVE: PALIN RESIGNATION ‘DAMAGE CONTROL’ FOR COMING ‘ICEBERG SCANDAL’  —  [See update below for exclusive source details from Alaska...]  —  Palin resigns.  She was to have been in office until 2010.  Something else is going on here above and beyond what she's saying, though I don't know what yet.

First Signs What Happened  —  Okay, we're getting our first indication of what happened.  It seems like a colossal sulk on Palin's part, or perhaps better to say an effort on her part to ingeniously combine anti-liberal media bias agitation with Christianist politics by portraying herself as having been crucified by the liberal media.

Palin to resign as Alaska governor  —  Former vice presidential hopeful says she won't finish out first term  —  WASILLA, Alaska - Sarah Palin announced Friday she plans to resign as governor of Alaska in a few weeks, saying she will try to “affect positive change” from outside government.

Sarah Palin — What a Schmuck  —  Sarah Palin has announced her abdication of the Governorship of Alaska.  If I were a citizen of Alaska, and especially if I had voted for her, I'd be pissed off.  —  Who cares if she feels she has checked off her personal laundry list of things to do?

Mother Palin  —  Who knows all the reasons — Todd and Sarah Palin, presumably fully understand.  Listening to her, it seems like this is a combination of stepping back and moving forward.  Stepping back, because it's way too overwhelming to be Sarah Palin, political phenom, Sarah Palin …

Health director says she was forced out  —  Wooley's boss says her ‘personal values’ didn'  —  One of the state's top public health officials says she was forced out of office because Gov. Sarah Palin felt she wasn't in step on social issues.  —  Beverly Wooley, who has worked more than 20 years …

PALIN TO RESIGN.... Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) decided to shake up an otherwise slow news day with an astounding announcement: not only has she decided to skip a re-election campaign next year, she's also resigning from office altogether later this month. … Palin is making a terrible mistake.