Temple Daily Telegram's Daily News Articles http://www.tdtnews.com Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:01:51 -0600 Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0600 News tdt@tdtnews.com (Carroll Wilson) webadmin@tdtnews.com (Jonathan Dwinell) en-us Copyright 2010, Temple Daily Telegram http://www.tdtnews.com/logo.gif http://www.tdtnews.com/ http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2010/03/13/64799 AUSTIN - A far-right faction of the Texas State Board of Education succeeded Friday in injecting conservative ideals into social studies, history and economics lessons that will be taught to millions of students for the next decade. Teachers in Texas will be required to cover the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers, but not highlight the philosophical rationale for the separation of church and state. Curriculum standards also will describe the U.S. government as a "constitutional republic," rather than "democratic," and students will be required to study the decline in value of the U.S. dollar, including the abandonment of the gold standard. Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0600 http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2010/03/13/64799 http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2010/03/13/64800 With about 100 fewer students than last year, Meridith-Dunbar Elementary School is trying to rebuild, regroup and grow. "We've had to just take the bull by the horns and work on increasing our performance across the board," principal Wanda Reynolds said. "It definitely hurt to lose students - our staff worked very hard with them to develop relationships." Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0600 http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2010/03/13/64800 http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2010/03/13/64801 WASHINGTON - The unemployment rate last year for young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans hit 21.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, reflecting a tough obstacle combat veterans face as they make the transition home from war. The number was well above the 16.6 percent jobless rate for non-veterans of the same ages, 18 to 24. Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0600 http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2010/03/13/64801 http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2010/03/13/64802 As the minority population grows, so does the number of people who don't speak English or don't speak it well. That can make communication between law enforcement and victims or suspects difficult. A recent report by The revealed that police departments across the country have an increased need for bilingual police officers. Local officials here in Bell County expressed the need as well. Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0600 http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2010/03/13/64802