Kilgore College’s Small Business Development Center (SMDC) is teaming with the Longview Mall and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide East Texas business people with a day-long seminar titled simply “Deal Day.”  To be held Thursday, October 28 it will be in the mall’s Sears Wing (the former shoe department) from 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. There is no charge and it is open to the public. Local bankers will share information on how to obtain small business loans, info on SBA versus conventional loan programs and loan requirements, business planning development, plus much more.
Counselors from the Kilgore College SBDC will also attend to assist in the instruction.
Speakers will be Danville, California’s Susan Malone, who buy drugs without a prescription founded the organization Strategies for Small Business, SBA District Director Herb Austin, Supervisor of Lender Relations Perry where can i buy reductil Espie, and the SBA’s Project Chair for the SBDC Billy Medina.  All are looking forward to working with local lenders and their clients for future small business loans in East Texas.
Local bankers will also attend to share data on resources and offer assistance in general to local prospective loan applicants.  Attendees should bring general financial documentation, business plans, tax returns, P&L statements, driver’s licenses, social security numbers and anything helpful in establishing one’s qualification for a loan.  Anyone with a criminal history, or has defaulted on a government or student loan is ineligible to apply for loans.
For further information please call (903) 753-7878, (800) 952-2613 or visit www.LongviewUSA.com.

For years residents of southeast Longview have been plagued by periodic flooding.  City Councilwoman Sidney Willis points out the problem with Iron Bridge Creek.
“I have been on the city council for nine years, and even before then the creek was still a challenge both for the residents and the city,” she said.
She referred to how Paul Boorman and a group of parishioners from Alpine Church of Christ once cleaned out the stream, but it soon filled up again with couches, refrigerators, diapers, paper, assorted garbage as well as natural litter like leaves and tree branches.  order prescription drugs This blockage means that when it rains the creek overflows.  Willis revealed that after second clean-out locals agreed to make sure that it stays clean, but many residents have moved away, and others are too disabled for such heavy work.  The north-to-south flowing creek empties into the Sabine River.
The city’s prioritization system for drainage projects goes as follows:

1. Homes and/or buildings with a history of flooding.
2. Erosion that is or is potentially threatening the stability of structures.
3. Yard flooding, channel erosion and aesthetic problems.

At a town meeting held November 17, 2009 the following options were discussed:

Alternative 1: Ditch improvement plus the purchasing of 39 homes, estimated cost-$15,100,000.
Alternative 2: The purchasing of 40 homes already buy acomplia rimonabant online flooded by Iron Bridge Creek, estimated cost – $5,000,000
Alternative 3: The repair/stabilization of select locations in the channel.  This would not address the flooding issue, estimated cost – $1,200,000.

Most attendees preferred the second alternative, although this did not formally select the plan, a directive for funding or a long-term timeline for the potential project.  Furthermore, County Commissioner Precinct 4 John Mathis proposed inmate labor for the project, but because the work would be carried out on private property inmates would not be allowed to participate.  Mathis is still working hard with Mayor Jay Dean on the project.
“I appreciate Jay Dean for helping us,” he said.  “Without him we could not do it.  I just want to work together with him and get things done for my people.  He is the mayor for the City of Longview, and South Longview is in Precinct 4.  We are here to work together for the benefit of the citizens who elected us.”
The city is currently sending letters to homeowners in the first section of the creek in order to obtain a temporary easement, which will permit the clearing of that section of the channel.  The cleanup is tentatively scheduled for late autumn or early winter so there will be reduced vegetation.  Willis explained the second option’s long-term goals and implementation.
“The city has to set up a committee to study the issue on how to proceed properly with their option,” she said.  “Then they will go back to the residents and share their findings, and back to city council for approval.”
She also warned that this will not be an overnight improvement.
“There is no easy solution to this,” she said.  “I wish there was because of the residents whose yards are being flooded.”
Mayor Dean, however, is very upbeat on the prospects.
“We are going to do the work,” he said.  “The city is going to do it, and we are moving forward.”
In order to commence work on the second alternative Longview will first have to retire some debts.  The mayor concluded by remarking it would help if the commissioner would bring in some of his men from the county to help with the clean-up.

East Texas fathers and father-figures in the Pine Tree district are set to hear information on becoming part of a program called WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students).   The district began the program at the PT Middle School last year, buy generic acomplia and is expanding to include the successful initiative this year for all campuses who serve Pre-K through sixth grade.
“Men who choose to participate in WATCH D.O.G.S. will spend a day during the school year volunteering on campus, serving as a positive role model and helping increase a sense of security in the building,” said Scott Mann who started the program at the Middle School last year. “We had a great start and are excited to be recruiting dads at other campuses this year.”
The program is the safe schools initiative of the National Center for Fathering.
The Pine Tree programs will kick off with a Pizza Dinner for all who attend on the following dates:
PT Middle School, 5th/6th grades: 6:00pm, Thursday, Sept. 30, 600 PT Parkway, school cafeteria.  903-295-5160
PT Primary School, Pre-K/Kindergarten:  6:00pm, Buy Acomplia pills Thursday, Oct. 5, 1808 Silver Falls Road, school cafeteria.  903-295-5095.
PT Intermediate School, 3rd/4th grades: 6:30pm, Thursday, Oct. 7, 601 PT Parkway, school cafeteria, 903-295-5151.
PT Elementary School, 1st / 2nd grades: 6:30pm, Thursday, Oct. 12, 815 Birch St, school cafeteria, 903-295-5120.

At its September 22 meeting the Tyler City Council unanimously voted in favor of a 2010-2011 budget for $4.8 million less than the previous fiscal year’s. The new tax rate will be 20.8 cents per $100 valuation.
Mayor Barbara Bass is happy with the new rate.
“Since 1994 Tyler’s tax rate has decreased by more than 60%.  We have one of the lowest tax rates in the state as well as having about the same number of employees that we had in the mid-1980s,” she said.  “I am extremely proud of the work the city has done to keep our expenses down while providing exemplary public safety and services to the citizens of Tyler.”
The new budget is the result of eights months’ worth of work by Tyler’s budget committee and its departments. They considered the markedly lower sales tax revenue and the slightly depressed local property values. Councilman Donald Sanders spoke on behalf of the city panel.
“I am proud of the work the staff has done in these trying economic times,” he said. “We have maintained service levels and are taking care of concerns the citizens have.”
Tyler’s $55 million General Fund Budget comes from revenue from sales tax (41%,) property taxes (26%,) fines (11%,) franchise fees (17%) and other sources. This fund finances:
1. Police and Fire Departments–67%
2. Parks and the library–10%
3. Public works–7%
4. Court–3%
5. General government–7%
6. Miscellaneous–6%
“The blueprint calls for Tyler to do more with less and to run the city like a business,” said Councilman Jason Wright.  “With Tyler’s Lean Sigma program, which is a private sector methodology, we run leaner than any city I have examined.”
The council got an early start on this budget in order to have time to examine opportunities to implement spending cuts in order to hold the city’s property rate steady.  Some of these measures were:
1. Freezing, shifting or eliminating 23 positions.
2. Postponing capital purchases.
3. Reducing funding to outside agencies.
4. Reducing subsidies and funding matches to other funds.
5. Reducing training expenses.
6. Shifting costs from internal service funds that over-recovered in earlier years.
7. Adjusting cost allocations for some overhead expenses.
8. Reducing fuel and oil expenditures.
“Previous councils implemented a pay-as-you-go practice for capital improvements which this council has continued,” said Councilman Mark Whatley.  “Without their foresight we most certainly would be facing a significant tax increase to pay for debt.  Because we have no general obligation debt, tax revenue goes directly toward prescription drugs without operations.  We are in a very fortunate position.”
The annual budget process includes having some rates and fees adjusted.  In order to finance multi-year utility extensions which started two years ago a 6% water and sewer rate increase has been proposed.  Even should this increase be approved Tyler’s utility rates would still be far below those of most cities of its size.  Councilman Martin Heines described Tyler’s advantages in budgeting.
“So many communities can’t begin to think about growth because they don’t know where their water is coming from,” he said.  “Tyler has a water supply for the next 75 years, so we are perfectly positioned for growth.  I am proud to be part of this team that is working together for the future of Tyler.  This budget reflects the priorities and values of this community.”
Because there was less development in earlier years the revenue generated in the Development Services Fund has dropped to $104,000. Therefore two additional positions have not been financed, and the fees for platting and zoning will be increased in order to cover more of these services’ actual costs.  The rates for residential and commercial solid wastes will remain unchanged, but there will be a rate adjustment for premium haul out/pack out service. The airport’s rental care service fees and some cemetery fees will also be adjusted. Councilman Sam Mezayek is impressed with the quality of work being done by Tyler’s government.
“I have worked with the city as a private citizen and businessman,” he said. “It is certainly a different acomplia cheapest no prescription perspective being behind the scenes and seeing what goes on in the operations of the city. I would like to applaud the city manager and staff for the work they are doing.”
He was not the only council member to praise the city staff for its budget work.
“The fire department’s ISO rating is in the top 4% in the state, and the police department’s accreditation is a testament to their exemplary performance,” said Heines.  This is all about good news.  The city is run well, and we are doing more with less.”
Mayor Pro Tem Ralph Caraway assured Tyler’s residents their city’s management and council members have done and are going to keep doing a fine job.
“I am going to brag on you when I get to heaven,” he said.

The Tyler Municipal Court will extend its deadline for the Second Chance Program until October 15 because of the operation’s success in helping persons who, because of financial troubles, have had difficulty paying past due court fines.  Launched in August, the initiative was originally slated to end September 9. Up to that point 583 people were able to pay fines that cleared 1140 warrants. Court Administrator Wes McCabe lauded the arrangement.
“Some people went ahead and took care of the whole warrant amount instead of opting for the payment plan,” he said.  “Consequently even more warrants were cleared than we expected.  We acomplia pill had predicted that about 200 to 250 people would pay their fines and take care of their warrants during this time period.  The reality is that more than twice online pharmacy no prescription needed the warrants were cleared than we anticipated.”
The Second Chance Program makes it possible for persons with warrants issued against them for non-payment of fines to re-establish a payment plan to bring their accounts up to date.
“We have seen an increase in the number of people who have warrants issued for their arrest due to the economy,” said McCabe.  “This program provides a second chance for violators to become current and take care of their fines.”
A $300 down payment is required in order to re-establish a payment plan.  Warrants are removed after the $300 is received and a payment plan is signed.
To partake of this operation violators must go to the cashier’s window at the Municipal Court and provide the down payment, sign the payment agreement, and do so no later than October 15.

The Tyler Independent School District (TISD) has won the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.
The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) announced and presented the prize.  The GFOA is a not-for-profit professional organization that serves about 17,500 governmental financial professionals.  It has offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C.
The TISD won the honor for its sterling annual finance report.  The Certificate is the most prestigious recognition given for governmental accounting and financial reporting.  It is an extremely difficult-to-earn achievement.  A non-biased panel evaluates candidates and selects the winner, who must achieve many high Acomplia standards including a favorable “spirit of full taranabant disclosure” to provide a clear financial picture.

The Michelson Art Gallery is already looking forward to the Yuletide season.
It’s preparing a 13-foot Christmas tree, numerous smaller trees, exhibits from its permanent collection, a children’s play room filled with Christmas-oriented books, and creation stations for making and exchanging Artist Trading Cards.
These acomplia order online trading cards are the latest rage drugs online in the art world.  Derived from sports trading cards they are miniscule art works to be collected and traded.  About the same size as sports cards, they feature art on the front and information such as contact data on the back.
The museum will make it possible to create enough of these cards to well stock all visitors who desire them to collect or hang on trees.  The education director and assistants will show visitors how to make the cards.
For more information on the Michelson Gallery and its Christmas program please visit www.michelsonmuseum.org.

Do you love the game of golf? Would you like to meet other players who love the game too?
Then bring a friend and join a group of other golfers for a round of golf at the Tyler Parks and Recreation Department’s Golf Scramble on Thursday, Oct. 14.
Tee time is 9 a.m. at Oak Hurst Golf Course, 6212 CR 152 West in Bullard. Pairs or single golfers will be grouped together to create four-person teams. This fun tournament is a great way to meet other golfers and pick up a few tips from Golf Pro Darryl Chase along the way.
Cost is $45 per person and includes a cart, green fees and lunch. Each golfer must order how to get prescription drugs without a prescription acomplia online pre-register. Registration forms are available at the City of Tyler’s Parks office at 2000 W. Front St. or on the web site, www.CityofTyler.org.
For more information or to register, contact Special Events/ Recreation Manager Debbie Isham at (903) 531-1214.

As additional young adult men are expected to come forward this week after four former members of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in Lithonia, Georgia, claim to have been “coerced” into respective sexual relationships with the church’s senior pastor, Bishop Eddie L. Long.
The 55-year-old preacher told his congregation last Sunday that he would “vigorously fight the charges” against him as nearly 10,000 members applauded, ultimately vowing to support him.
In court filings (September 21) in DeKalb County State Court of alleged sexual harassment against Bishop Long, New Birth, Inc., and the church’s “off-shoot ministry” of the Longfellows Youth Academy, Incorporated, two young adult males who initially were students within New Birth’s youth academy, Maurice Robinson and Anthony Flagg, stated in civil litigation documents that Bishop Long exerted his influence as pastor — “spiritual advisor” — over the teens, both age 14 at the time, to eventually engage in sex and relationships for (Long’s) own personal sexual gratification,” all the while furnishing the impressionable young men with cars, cash, jewelry and other gifts, allegedly with church funds, along with putting them on New Birth’s payroll. In separate 23-page filings by Robinson and Flagg, respectively, the youth academy “purported to train young men, from 13 to 18, to love, live and lead as they proceed on their ‘masculine journey’.” However, as the 50-year-old preacher is the academy’s “pastor/counselor/confidant” to the teens in the program, the initial plaintiffs allege the academy is Bishop Long’s modus operandi to influence and exploit vulnerable teen males who, in the case of Flagg, have no father, or father-figure, “to bring them to a point to engage in a sexual relationship.” After they are pronounced as Long’s “spiritual sons” within the program and church congregation, furthermore, “defendant Long has a pattern and practice of singling out a select group of young male church members, and (uses) his authority as Bishop over them to ultimately bring them to a point of engaging in a sexual relationship,” court documents indicated. Both Robinson and Flagg are 21, born in 1989. A third plaintiff, 23-year-old Colorado resident Jamal Parris, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit, on September 22, alleging similar charges, with the additional claim that while occupying Bishop Long’s Snapfinger Drive guest house in DeKalb County, he would regularly request for Parris to be nude for the pastoral visits. All three are being represented by Brenda Joy “B.J.” Bernstein of Atlanta.  (At late presstime, a fourth young male, Spencer LeGrande, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit (September 24) against Long, alleging same charges as a member of New Birth-Charlotte, a satellite church in North Carolina.  The then-17 year old engaged in sex with Long, in 2005, after being given a sleeping pill, according to the lawsuit, and was ongoing until last year, according to Associated Press reports.  Attorney Bernstein was unreachable for comment.)
In statements by Bishop Long initially, he denied the allegations. Last Sunday, furthermore, Long stood before his congregation, denouncing the accusations. “I am going to fight this thing. I am not a perfect man — but I am not the man being portrayed” by the plaintiffs as, according to one complaint, a “sexual predator.”
Although Long did not definitively deny the allegations to his members, he spoke on all people having to “face painful situations. This is the worse time of my life,” the pastor proclaimed at an 8am. service, adorned in beige-tan dressing, with New Birth insignia. Following the service, Long addressed local and national news media at a press conference in New Birth’s chapel. Taking no questions from reporters, he only said the civil lawsuits “would cheap Acomplia not be fought in the media, but within a court of law,” as well as he promoting his church’s ministries’ work at home and abroad. After about 10 minutes, he walked away with his wife, Vanessa, and attorneys, Craig Gillen and Dwight Thomas of Atlanta, in tow. Also, in statements last week to the media and touted by attorney Gillen to radio stations upon Long cancelling scheduled interviews, “it is unfortunate these young men have chosen to take this course of action,” Gillen said. “Bishop Long adamantly denies these allegations.  We’re reviewing the complaints … and will respond in the proper venue accordingly.  Bishop Long also stated, ‘Let me be clear. The charges against me and New Birth are false. I have been through storms, and my faith has always sustained me. I have devoted my life to helping others, and these false allegations hurt me deeply’,” Gillen exclaimed the father of four said.  Plaintiffs’ attorney Bernstein of Atlanta — who is remembered for successfully defending Genarlow Wilson of sexual sodomy that was prosecuted by Douglas County and the state of Georgia in 2006 — said to The Atlanta Inquirer last week, “the courage of these young men to stand up is testimony to (obliterate) Bishop Long’s great influence, as well as they trying to get to the truth of the betrayal …for a productive life.” She also warned, “there are kids right now at risk (at New Birth).”  Ms. Bernstein denied a reporter from speaking to the plaintiffs last week, indicating, “they’ve relocated for the moment…. To (initiate litigation) was very emotional for them,” relaying, too, that e-mails, text messages and pictures provided to the young men “will speak for the cases against the bishop.” Ms. Bernstein stated she had no comment after Bishop Long’s sermons (September 26).
Bishop Long, a native North Carolinian, arrived to Atlanta in the mid-1980s, prepared to brandish his small-town reputation for the big city and suburbs of Atlanta. From 1987, after being appointed New Birth’s pastor, to the present day, membership has grown from mere hundreds to nearly 30,000. Primarily teaching God’s promise of prosperity, Long’s popularity has made him a sought-after counselor among the rich and powerful — from former Georgia governors and U.S. presidents to local county leaders — along with his membership who travel from near and far for worship services. Within the youth academy, however, Bishop Long allegedly exerted “power and dominion” with the then-teen males with “various rituals …, and discussed Biblical verses that reinforce the spiritual and God-like connection between himself and the young men,” according to the affadavit. Upon becoming a “spiritual son,” the plaintiffs claim Long lavished them with trips within the U.S. and abroad on jets, housed them in luxury hotels, and provided access to “numerous celebrities, including entertainment stars and politicians.” During the out-of-town trips, in particular, plaintiffs allege Long shared a bedroom to ultimately “engage in sexual touching, and other sex acts” with Robinson. “Defendant Long would use Holy Scripture to discuss and justify the intimate relationship between himself and friend,” thereby, “causing Robinson great anger and anguish. With both plaintiffs Flagg and Robinson, character could become a key component if the lawsuit heads into the court. In 2007, Flagg was arrested for simple assault, and later, his mother agreed for him to live in New Birth’s “Golod House,” the haven for troubled teens, in Lithonia, Georgia, upon Long’s suggestion, “to provide stability and opportunity to learn and grow with such an important spiritual mentor.” Flagg also alleges Bishop Long was “situated to exercise a controlling influence over the will, conduct, and interest” of Flagg, and otherwise shared the same bed “to engage in sexual massages …where increased sexual contact included oral sodomy, kissing, masturbation and oral sexual contact.” With Robinson, he and another man were arrested last June for breaking into Long’s personal office on the New Birth campus site. The plaintiffs are seeking punitive and compensatory damages for “Breach of Fiduciary,” various counts of fraud and negligence, “Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress,” and “Negligent Failure To Protect,” “Negligent Failure To Warn” and “Negligent Failure To Intervene-Supervise” against youth academy officials, all under the auspices of New Birth, Incorporated, and its registered agents.
While attorneys deliberate on Bishop Long’s overall intent to allegedly “coerce” the then-teens into sex, New Birth members, past and present, are “shocked” and “in disbelief” of the salacious accusations. “It’s nothing but a set-up,” decried a former member, seeking anonymity, who relocated to the northeast to enhance business opportunity. “Big money, power and success attract devilish acts.” Nevertheless, the irony of a popular Pentecostal/Baptist-style preacher leading an anti-gay ministry, with an opposition march six years ago, has rocked New Birth, along with the local black clergy, in general. Allegations of Bishop Long paying off other males two weeks ago to secure their silence, according to sources familiar with the imbroglio, would not be substantiated, nor expounded on, with acomplia online order interviews. Also, others sources indicated to The Atlanta Inquirer that several church administrators have resigned from New Birth last week. “Their pay and benefits were good, but they didn’t want to go out like that,” the source said. The Rev. Bernice King, youngest offspring of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a New Birth elder, also helped lead the anti-gay march. According to the church’s website, counseling services for members “struggling with homosexuality” are offered by Long, “a man of vision, revered locally, nationally and internationally as a dynamic man of leadership, integrity and compassion.” (Repeated requests for comment to Ms. King went unanswered.)  Also, some local ministers gathered (September 24) at Paschal’s Restaurant, on Northside Drive, to strategize for a “lock-in,” an initiative where pastors will sit and pray with Bishop Long for seven days to respond to the church, and “to show and provide open arms,” as rendered in scripture (Job 2:11-12), according to coordinator Rev. Jasper W. Williams, Sr., senior pastor of Salem Bible Church of Atlanta and Lithonia. “We are all sinners …, and we are all the body of Christ, including Bishop Eddie Long,” Williams stated prior to the 12 noon meeting. Declaring he has “no opinion, either way” of believing Long’s innocence or guilt, Rev. Williams, who indicated he’s known Long “since he’s been in Atlanta (1987),” expressed “mixed emotions” upon witnessing the intriguing cell phone pictures, allegedly transmitted by Long to Robinson and Flagg, with Long dressed, in one photo, in a red skin-tight muscle shirt, and in another, Long posing in a black form-fitting gym suit. As Williams calls on the nation’s pastors to come to Atlanta, beginning September 27, “to pray with and for Bishop Long,” he noted a rush to any judgment is premature, and to remember Long’s admirable community service rendered to Atlanta. “He’s done tremendous works here. This negativity has had a tremendous affect on him and on New Birth, but the church will sustain itself.” “I feel like David against Goliath, but I have 5 rocks, and I haven’t thrown one yet,” Long concluded.
Although Concerned Black Clergy of Metro Atlanta president Rev. William Cobble chose “to reserve comments until later,” a previous chief did not. “It was mostly shock and disappointment,” the Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley stated as initial thoughts upon learning of the accusations against his friend of 20 years.  Nevertheless, “we should be extremely prayerful for him, his family and New Birth. This is a precarious time.” Durley also praised Long’s “tremendous amount of work” within Atlanta and beyond. “We must look at the good he’s done, too,” as well as comment on the allegations. Does Regional Council of Churches co-chair Durley believe the accusations? “Whether they are true or false, they will have an impact.  As clergy (members), we need to continue lifting up the flock, as well as move forward toward healing and redemption. Overall, the black churches will not be negatively impacted; we’ll come out of this stronger.”
Although the bishop has not spoken out (at late presstime) to refute the allegations, his children (on September 23) verbalized comments on Twitter. “We are doing great; keep my pops lifted up in prayer!,” exclaimed Edward Long. Succinctly and simply, daughter Taylor Long declared, “Man, my dad does NOT deserve this!”

The Longview Independent School District (LISD,) descendants of Ned E. Williams and the community as a whole recently celebrated a momentous day- the official opening of Ned E. Williams Elementary School at 5230 Estes Parkway.
The school was named to honor Ned E. Williams, a man who truly knew what it is like to pull oneself up by the bootstraps. He was born into slavery on the plantation of one James Williams in Sabine County, Texas on September 15, 1864.  His mother, Partha Williams, was not quite 14 years old.  At age 16, when most youths his age were in the 10th grade, Williams moved to Kansas in hopes of a better life, but he found no worthwhile future there.
After 18 months he and some relatives left Kansas and returned to Texas, but they ran out of money before reaching Sabine County.  They stopped at the farm of a Dr. Mitchell in “Lakeport,” Gregg County.  It was from here Williams decided to work to improve the woeful lot of ex-slaves.  He realized education was the key.  Although there were no schools for blacks and for them reading was discouraged he began reading and studying nightly after finishing his chores on the Mitchell plantation.  Mitchell and his wife and a professor F.A. Glenn tutored and motivated him and in general encouraged his self-education.
While working on the plantation, Williams met his wife-to-be, Adah Richardson, who lived on the adjacent Wyche plantation, the spot now occupied by the East Texas Regional Airport.  The couple was blessed with 10 children.
His benefactors the Mitchells encouraged him to buy some land and build a home, and he purchased almost 500 acres.  Glenn also advised him to take up one of humanity’s most honorable professions, teaching.  Williams breezed through a teaching exam and took his first teaching position in the town of Fredonia.  He did not stay long in Fredonia because he moved on to Greenville to found a school on land donated by one Sam Brittain.  Williams spent the next 57 years here as a principal and administrator.
Five of his 10 children followed him as educators, and two became teachers in his school.  Later the school was named after him.  In fact, it had several names.  From 1884 till 1918 is was simply the Greenville School, from 1918 until 1946 it was Gregg County Training School, from 1946 until 1952 it was Ned E. Williams Industrial School, 1952 through 1964 it was called Ned E. Williams High School, and 1964 through 1971, Ned E. Williams Elementary School.  These names reflect the progress and new missions and directions of the schools, cheap drugs where many professionals such as teachers, attorneys and doctors were educated.
Williams’ son Elzie R. (E.R.) became principal in September 1945.  Ned Williams, educator and farmer, passed away cheap reductil in November 1945 at the golden age of 81.  In 1969, due to integration, his school  became part of the LISD.
Williams’ educational credits were impressive.  He attended Bishop College in Marshall, Texas and the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama where Dr. Booker T. Washington was president and Dr. George Washington Carver served as a professor.  In 1927 Carver stayed with Williams during a visit to Longview.  Carver also toured the school and community.  Aside from teaching, Williams also worked as clerk and deacon at Pleasant Green Baptist Church in Longview.  He also was active in voter registration and education even though black people could not vote in primaries.  In addition, he was the only notary public in Greenville.
His great-grandson Winston Williams journeyed from California to attend the ribbon cutting, and said he was pleasantly surprised at the new school being after his great grandfather. Brenda Graham, a great-granddaughter who remembers the school, was overflowing with positive emotions.
“I am very happy to see black students in a school that is very up-to-date,” she said.  “There are no hand-me-down books, and everybody has the same opportunity to learn.”
She pointed out that parents must take an interest in their children’s education.  If children are not successful in school, parents and not teachers alone must share in the blame.  She told of how her own son was not doing well in school, but after she got involved and had him tested she discovered he actually needed to be in gifted and talented curricula.
“Parents must get involved, get to know the teachers and principals,” she said.  “Ask questions.  If you do not understand [something,] ask for explanations.  Parents must take the time to participate in the education of their children.  It is their responsibility.”
Graham went yet further in her declaration on parents’ role in children’s education.
“If they are not learning, find out what the problem is,” she said.  “Know what help is available for your child and get them the help they need to succeed.”
Ned E. Williams Elementary School was among the first new campuses completed under the LISD’s $266.9 million bond construction project.  It is the first LISD campus south of Interstate 20, and serves students from the Elderville-Lakeport, Easton and Lake Cherokee areas.  Cynthia Wise is principal.