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Governor Mitch Daniels celebrated Indiana’s 196th birthday with hundreds of schoolchildren at a Statehouse ceremony Tuesday.  It will be the last Statehood Day Daniels takes part in as governor.

Students from schools around Indianapolis and Columbus participated in festivities at the Statehouse that included presentations from legislators, state Supreme Court Justice Steven David and the governor.  Daniels said Statehood Day is the best opportunity he sees to teach younger students about the history of Indiana.

Governor Mitch Daniels’ eight years in office is being remembered as a time of big changes and sweeping reform that’s left the state markedly different than it was.  Both supporters and opponents say Daniels was decisive and left no doubt as to who was in charge.  But whether changes made under the Daniels administration were positive depends a lot on who you talk to.

A state panel has voted to make it easier for non-education majors who earn Bachelor’s degrees to get teaching jobs.  That’s one part of a broad package of changes to Indiana’s rules for teacher licensing the State Board of Education approved Wednesday. But opponents fear the new standards sets the bar too low.

The State Board’s final 9-2 vote ends months of debate on the proposal known as “REPA II.”  State education officials say the new guidelines give schools more flexibility in the teacher hiring process. 

Four members of Governor-elect Mike Pence’s cabinet are now in place.

Department of Revenue Commissioner Mike Alley and Department of Administration head Robert Wyncoop will remain in their jobs when Mike Pence takes over the governor’s office in January.  Chris Atkins was general counsel and policy director for the Office of Management and Budget under Governor Daniels and will run that office while Anita Samuel will be the new Director of State Personnel after serving that office as its general counsel. 

On Health 360 today we're talking with Carmen DeBruce from the Lutheran Health Network to talk about safe holiday toys and which ones you should avoid this season. Then we have Mike GeRue and therapist Paul McComas to discuss the new Parkview Huntington Autism Center.

A U-S District judge has ruled against atheist organization the Center for Inquiry in its bid to strike down Indiana’s marriage statute as unconstitutional.

Marriage in Indiana is a two-step process: receiving a marriage license and making the marriage official.  The state’s marriage statute specifies who can perform that second step – the clergy of any religious group and certain government officials like mayors and judges. 

As he prepares to leave the US Senate after 36 years, Senator Richard Lugar  is being honored  for his work curbing nuclear proliferation.  Lugar received the Department of Defense’s highest civilian award Monday.

The Department of Defense presented the award to Lugar and former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn.  The Nunn-Lugar program, in place since the early 90’s, is aimed at locating and securing nuclear weapons that went missing after the Soviet Union dissolved.