Friday in The Star

Check out Friday's Star for these stories:

The Anniston branch of BAE Systems will get $47.2 million to build 65,000 metal armor plates for combat vehicles commonly deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Todd South looks at what this means for the region.

Climate prediction experts say drought conditions will improve this spring for most of the Southeast, bringing some measure of relief to anyone who grows things for a living. Andy Johns has this story.

Like school systems across the country, White Plains and the rest of Calhoun County Schools face twin pressures of limited financial resources and increased pressure to show kids can perform on math and reading tests. That often squeezes out such subjects as the arts and foreign languages. But an idea borrowed from higher education could help expand local elementary schools’ offerings. Dan Whisenhunt writes about this.