Broken Widget function

Mage_Core_Model_Layout_Update.php

<?php
class Mage_Core_Model_Layout_Update {
    public function fetchDbLayoutUpdates($handle)
    {
        $_profilerKey = 'layout/db_update: '.$handle;
        Varien_Profiler::start($_profilerKey);
        $updateStr = $this->_getUpdateString($handle);
        if (!$updateStr) {
            return false;
        }
        $updateStr = '<update_xml>' . $updateStr . '</update_xml>';
        $updateStr = str_replace($this->_subst['from'], $this->_subst['to'], $updateStr);
        $updateXml = simplexml_load_string($updateStr, $this->getElementClass());
        $this->fetchRecursiveUpdates($updateXml);
        $this->addUpdate($updateXml->innerXml());

        Varien_Profiler::stop($_profilerKey);
        return true;
    }   
}