By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
The North Texas school district that didn't show President Barack Obama's speech to schoolchildren during class last week has canceled a field trip to see former President George W. Bush.
About 600 fifth-graders in the Arlington school district were supposed to see Bush speak at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium next week at an event for the 2011 Super Bowl.
But Arlington schools Superintendent Jerry McCullough said Monday that the local and national attention over the issue has become a distraction.
School districts in Texas and at least five other states didn't show Obama's speech to the nation's schoolchildren last week. Three days later, the Arlington superintendent apologized but said teachers could play the recorded speech anytime.
McCullough also said he understood how the district's actions could be viewed as favoring one event over another.
$50M federal grant to help buy insurance
A state official says a five-year, $50 million federal grant will assist employees of small businesses in purchasing health insurance.
The new executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Tom Suehs, said in a statement Monday that the project will stretch "limited taxpayer dollars to insure more Texans." The state will contribute 20 percent in matching funds.
Workers earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, which is about $66,000 for a family of four, would be eligible for the money.
Three programs are scheduled to start in the next year or so and their participants will be eligible for the health insurance purchases. The programs are Healthy Texas, TexHealth Coalition and Community First Health Plan.
Borlaug memorial service set for Oct. 6 in Texas
A memorial service for Nobel Prize-winning agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug has been set for Oct. 6 at Texas A&M University.
University officials say the memorial will be at 11 a.m. in A&M's Rudder Auditorium.
Borlaug died over the weekend in Dallas.
Known as the father of the "green revolution," Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in combating world hunger. The Nobel committee honored Borlaug in 1970 for contributions to high-yield crops and other agricultural innovations in the developing world.
Many experts credit his green revolution with averting global famine during the second half of the 20th century. The Iowa-born Borlaug remained active well into his 90s, campaigning for the use of biotechnology to fight hunger and working on projects to alleviate poverty.
Developer creates European village in Texas suburb
Developer Jeff Blackard is working to bring European village life to the Dallas suburb of McKinney.
The Euro-touches range from a chapel sitting serenely on a sliver of land jutting out on a lake to stone homes with red tile roofs clustered on winding lanes
Blackard says his "Adriatica" development about 30 miles north of Dallas was inspired by the port city of Supetar on the Croatian island of Brac. He began work on the development a few years ago. So far, it contains about a dozen single-family homes and a row of businesses and shops - including a day spa, an Italian restaurant, a Realtor's office, a wine bistro and a coffee shop.
By the end of next year, expect a replica of Supetar's port lining the lake. Eventually, plans for the 45-acre development call for 70 or so houses, about 280 condominium units, 100 retail establishments, 100 offices and an 80-room hotel. A replica of Venice's St. Mark's Square is planned to serve as a community meeting place.