Thursday in The Star

Alabama’s children’s health insurance program is caught between a rock and a hard place.The federal government failed to reauthorize and provide additional funding for the program that provides health insurance to low-income children who don’t qualify for Medicaid, and can’t afford private insurance.On top of that, the state has fallen on hard financial times, with shortfall of more than $200 million expected for the general fund. The general fund essentially covers all the state’s non-education expenses. Markeshia Ricks has this story.

Matt Kasper has a story about the memorial services for Army Capt. Torre Mallard, held Wednesday in Anniston. He was killed last week while serving in Iraq.

With the decision to withdraw their interest in building a race complex in Heflin, George Howard Racing is exploring a site in Lincoln instead. Andy Johns writes about this.

Workers at the Anniston Army Depot are links in a chain that will keep a 50-year old artillery piece firing for another 50 years. Depot workers have overhauled the Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzer since the mid-1990s. A new upgrade to the system, announced Friday will give the depot some more work to do. BAE Systems will produce six prototypes of the 155mm artillery piece for testing at Fort Sill, Okla. in 2009, said Garrie Dornan, spokesman for BAE Ground Systems.