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LONGVIEW (AP) – A Gregg County commissioner has resigned amid allegations that crews assigned to road and bridge duties did unapproved work at baseball fields and a school. Commissioner Bob Barbee of Kilgore resigned Monday. Barbee did not immediately return a message Tuesday to The Associated Press. The Longview News-Journal reported Tuesday that Barbee admitted having crews do unauthorized work at baseball fields in Kilgore and at Maude Laird Middle School. District Attorney Carl Dorrough says he received complaints from county employees. Dorrough met with Barbee after Monday’s commissioners court meeting. He says they discussed the allegations and Barbee resigned. Dorrough also says a county ice machine, at Barbee’s personal business, has been recovered. Dorrough did not immediately return a message Tuesday to AP.

TYLER — Everyone’s invited to come meet the Muslim Community of East Texas. There’s an open house and community dinner tonight at the East Texas Islamic Society Mosque at 10659 State Highway 64 East, across from the Oil Palace on the outskirts of Tyler. Organizers say it’s a chance to learn about the basics of Islam & the Ramadan holiday currently being celebrated. According to materials from the Islamic Society, People can “come ask questions they have always wanted to ask a Muslim. Come see how Muslims pray and worship. Come enjoy our Fast Breaking Dinner (Iftaar) and join us for some good ethnic food.”

Itinerary for Open House
o 6:00pm – 6:15pm – Arrival to Mosque
o 6:15pm –Intro to Islam/Q&A Session
o Sunset (7:56pm) – Break Fast
o 8:05pm – Enjoy the Food
o 8:30pm –Mosque Tour & Thank you for coming

All activities will take place at the Mosque. Organizers ask that no shorts or short skirts be worn in the Mosque.

TYLER — State Representative Leo Berman of Tyler makes an appearance on Fox News Tuesday morning to discuss his goal of ending birthright citizenship. 96 million dollars is the price tag to provide health care to the almost 2 million illegal immigrants in Texas. Each year, an additional 60,000 babies are born to illegals. Rep. Berman says, at the state level, he’s introducing a bill which will prohibit the state of Texas from issuing a birth certificate to the child of illegal aliens. He says that instead, they’ll be given a notice of birth with instructions to take it to their local consulate or embassy to receive a birth certificate from the country of their parents.

Berman says if the bill passes, a suit will likely be filed against the bill and he ultimately hopes the issue ends up in front of the Supreme Court. Berman stated that the 14th amendment does not guarantee automatic citizenship. He says it does not apply to foreigners as stated in the Constitution.

TYLER — If Smith County Commissioners want to move forward with the November jail bond election, this morning is their last chance to put it on the ballot. According to KETK, Commissioner Jeff War will give information about a 33 million dollar proposal. Commissioners will then decide if they want to put it on the ballot. The meeting starts at 9:30 this morning in the Smith County Commissioner’s Courtroom.

PALESTINE — A 34-year-old Tyler man was arrested Friday afternoon by Anderson County authorities and charged in the rape of a 19-year-old woman on the Neches River near the Lake Palestine dam. According to KETK, Paul Erwin Chamberlain II was arrested at a Tyler business around 2:30 Friday afternoon by an Anderson County sheriff’s Sgt. and a Smith County peace officer. As of late Friday afternoon, Chamberlain remained in the Anderson County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond. Authorities have alleged that Chamberlain sexually assaulted a Smith County woman late Monday night/early Tuesday morning.

PAYNE SPRINGS — Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fire that killed a young Henderson County girl. Dead at the scene Sunday morning was Kolbee Ann Moss, 10. Her body was found in her fire destroyed home at Cherokee Shores. Three other persons in the home when the fire broke out were able to flee unharmed. They were unable to get back into the home and rescue the young girl. Her body has been sent to a Dallas lab for autopsy.

LONGVIEW — A Gregg County woman has been arrested after being accused of allowing her three children to ride on top of her vehicle. Taken into custody was Elizabeth Iglesias, 27, of White Oak. She is being charged with three counts of child abandonment/endangerment. He bond was set at $20,000. Authorities say all three children were under 12 years of age.

TYLER — In just over two months, voters in the Tyler School District will decide the fate of a, $89.95 million school bond issue. School trustees Tuesday approved putting the issue on the November 2nd ballot.

The proposal calls for rebuilding Dixie and Rice elementary schools and building a new middle school off the Old Jacksonville Highway. The new middle school would be built on a 30 acre tract of land the district owns. If approved by voters, it would open in August of 2012.

At Tuesday’s meeting school officials announced approval of the bond proposal would not affect the district’s tax rate.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the school board approved the budget for 2010-2011. The $136,859,437 million is slightly higher than the current budget. The tax rate remains the same at $1.375 per $100 valuation. But not everyone supports the package. The citizen group Grassroots America – We the People is against it, in their words to the board, “because you have not made any real effort to cut spending, and you are balancing this budget with $5 million in federal stimulus funds you have applied for out of the State’s Rainy Day Fund.”

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a jury’s verdict that actor-screenwriter Tyler Perry didn’t steal material for his 2005 movie “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.”

Two years ago, jurors in federal court in Marshall found actress and writer Donna West failed to support her copyright infringement claim.

West appealed the verdict. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday there was nothing improper in the way the trial was conducted.

West wrote a play titled “Fantasy of a Black Woman” that was performed three times in 1991 in Dallas. She claimed Perry could have seen the script when he presented his plays at the Dallas Black Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998.

Perry testified his screenplay was an original work. The $5 million film grossed more than $50 million.

TYLER – A 31-year-old Athens man pleaded guilty Monday in Tyler to federal firearms violations. Robbie Devon Wilkins pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen firearm before U.S. District Magistrate Judge John D. Love. According to information presented in court, on Dec. 22, 2009, Wilkins sold a semi-automatic rifle to another individual for $500. The rifle had been stolen during a burglary of the WULF Outdoor Sports store in Athens on Dec. 14, 2009. Wilkins admitted that he knew the rifle was stolen property when he sold it. Wilkins was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 6, 2010, and charged with federal firearms violations. Wilkins faces up to 10 years in federal prison at sentencing. A sentencing date has not been set.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. Officials say Project Safe Neighborhoods is aimed at reducing gun and gang violence; deterring illegal possession of guns, ammunition and body armor; and improving the safety of residents in the Eastern District of Texas. Participants in the initiative include community members and organizations as well as federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

CRAFT — Due to conditions which have occurred recently in the water system, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required Craft-Turney Water Supply to notify all the customers involved in the repair area to boil their water prior to consumption. According to KETK, the area included in this boil water notice is:

**From the Intersection of Loop 456 & FM 768, the area 2 miles South on FM 768, All of CR 1404, All water services on Drip Rock Road, and All water services on the South East Loop 456.

To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to consumption. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes. In lieu of boiling, you may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source. When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, water system officials will notify you. If you have questions regarding this matter you may contact Rhonda Briggs, Office Manager, at 903-586-9301.

TYLER — Officials with the Community Builders say they’re rewarding hard working Smith County nonprofit organizations with the extra funding they need to support strategic projects and programs to help people in need in Smith County. The Community Builders is a collaborative effort between East Texas Communities Foundation and the United Way of Tyler/ Smith County. The two organizations will host the 2010 Smith County Community Builders Grant reception Thursday at 9:00 a.m. in the Genecov Room of the Blackstone Building (315 N. Broadway, Tyler). Officials say the nine organizations were chosen because they demonstrated compelling needs and strategic opportunities to benefit many members of the community. Committee members chosen by ETCF and United Way of Tyler/Smith County assist with the grant selection process.

This year’s outstanding organizations receiving grants are as follows:
Bethesda Health Clinic
Purpose: Funding to purchase equipment/supplies for full or partial dentures

Children’s Advocacy Center of Smith County
Purpose: Purchase of a new computer system

Christian Men’s Job Corps of Tyler
Purpose: Support the employment skills training program

Christian Women’s Job Corps of Tyler, Inc.
Purpose: Purchase student books for job and life skills program

East Texas Food Bank
Purpose: Funding to supply food for Senior Servings program

Kings Storehouse Food Bank
Purpose: Purchase of capital equipment

Meals on Wheels
Purpose: Funding for fuel cost related to meal deliveries

Ninos de Promesa Preschool
Purpose: Purchase 4 computers and educational software for two older preschool classes

North Tyler Day Nursery
Purpose: “Brain Gym” training by Champions for Children

Total Amount Awarded: $30,000.00

ETCF and United Way say they would like to thank the Genecov Foundation for making a special gift to support the Community Builders which funded projects for Smith County Precinct 3 and the Literacy Council of Tyler.

East Texas Communities Foundation is a nonprofit corporation serving 16 counties in East Texas. In 2009, the Foundation distributed over $3.4 million and manages over $40 million in 167 unique charitable funds which support non-profit organizations and student scholarships. The mission of the Foundation is to support philanthropy by offering simple ways for donors to achieve their long-term charitable goals.
Press packets will be available at the event.

LONGVIEW (AP/Staff) – Not long ago, we told you a movie’s being made about the Bernie Tiede case — involving the 1996 fatal shooting of an elderly Carthage woman and the hiding of her body for months in a freezer. Casting calls were held over the weekend in Carthage and Longview for extras for “Bernie,” a project of Austin-based filmmaker Richard Linklater starring Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine. Bernhardt Tiede II was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison over the death of 81-year-old Marjorie Nugent. (The two are pictured here.) Investigators said the funeral home worker became the woman’s companion after her millionaire husband died. Tiede, who’s now 52, remains in the McConnell Unit in Beeville. Casting agent Sheila Steele says the casting call reached Texas towns because “we want the interesting people, and we want the real people.”

TYLER — University of Texas at Tyler officials presented faculty awards during the 2010-11 Opening Convocation Aug. 23, UT Tyler President Rodney Mabry announced.
Recipients and their awards are:
· 2010 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award – Suzanne Pundt, senior lecturer in biology; Dr. Blake Bextine, assistant professor of biology; and Dr. Jill Blondin, associate professor of art history.
This honor recognizes the nominees’ overall commitment and excellence in undergraduate teaching among UT System faculty members. Nominees are recommended by the President of each UT System and are reviewed by an external committee comprised of academic administrators, faculty, students and the UT System Board of Regents.
· President’s Scholarly Achievement Award – Dr. Mary Fischer, associate dean and professor of accounting.
This award recognizes outstanding scholarly achievements by a faculty member. Selections are made by a university committee.
· 2010 Provost’s Excellence in Teaching Award – Dr. Paul Roberts, associate professor of human resource development.
The Provost’s Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes faculty whose excellence in undergraduate teaching resulted in their nomination for the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award.
· White Fellowship for Teaching Excellence – Dr. Kathy Missildine, assistant professor of nursing.
This honor recognizes excellence in teaching. Nominations are made by both university faculty and students.
· 2010-11 Piper Professor nominee and White Fellowship for Teaching Excellence – Dr. Eric Stocks, assistant professor of psychology.
This honor focuses on the nominee’s overall excellence in both teaching and scholarly achievement at UT Tyler. Nominees are made by UT Tyler faculty and become the university’s candidate for the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation Excellence in Teaching award, which annually recognizes 15 professors for superior teaching at the college level in Texas. This nominee also automatically receives UT Tyler’s White Fellowship.

TYLER — The continued incorporation of technology into the university’s product is The University of Texas of Texas at Tyler’s biggest initiative for the 2010 – 11 academic year, President Rodney H. Mabry announced at Monday’s opening convocation ceremony. UT Tyler will be using the Tegrity course capture and delivery software through which faculty will record lectures for students.

“This is an important step for UT Tyler to take because we’re serving students who have grown up with technology and use it as a natural way to communicate and learn. We should use more technology because students are immersed in it and expect us to use it. Most important of all, we should use it because it has been shown that students actually learn more,” Mabry said. Hybrid courses, which comprise about two-thirds traditional, face-to-face lecture and discussion sessions and one-third anytime online instruction, are the way to go even though adaptability of each course varies, he added.

Tegrity software will allow faculty to capture certain lectures right at their desks and put them directly online. University staffers say faculty can meet fewer face-to-face classes, and that ultimately allows them to spend more time helping students individually or answering questions online. University officials say this technology initiative, which includes Blackboard course management software and Tegrity, is intended to make the university a leader in the use of technology. The initiative is just one major element of the new Center for Faculty Excellence in Teaching and Learning that is developed by Dr. Peter Fos, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

“Becoming known as the university in Texas where students get to take hybrid classes and where their penchant for using technology is recognized and encouraged by faculty would create a very important market distinction for UT Tyler itself. This distinctive reputation would help attract more of the high-ability students we seek,” said Mabry.

The convocation highlighted achievements of the past year such as sponsored research topping the $12 million mark. Also at the convocation, 35 new UTT faculty members were introduced. Mabry concluded his presentation by acknowledging an upcoming milestone birthday for UT Tyler. On June 10, 2011 the university will celebrate its 40th year.