Tyler Morning Telegraph from Tyler, Texas • 11

Teafcher Nominees Obituaries Wednesday, April 7, 2004 2004, lyt Morning Tetegraph Assignments Editor: Danny Mogle 596-6256 newstykrpaper.com www.tylerpaper.com TxDOT Project Scrutinized "We know the Trans-Texas Corridor is going Wednesday Meeting To Discuss Futuristic Trans-Texas Corridor should take heed. State officials label such talk as a scare tactic based on misinformation. The clashing voices were perhaps inevitable, given the scope of Gov. Rick Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor, a transportation project so sweeping it will take at least 50 yean to complete and cost more than the war in Iraq, officials mate. Already endorsed by the Legislature and approved by the federal government for speedier-than-normal construction, the Trans-Texas Corridor would, over time, reconfigure the way goods and people move across the state.

The plan includes 4,000 miles of toll roads, separate lanes for cars and trucks, high-speed passenger rail, freight rail and massive utility lines with a projected cost of at least $180 billion. The corridors will be twice as wide as existing interstate highways, which typically span 450 feet. be a large, sen. Texas massive project, ofns-' and in order to do portation that we can't just reh on tne usual Gabriel a bare minimum Garcia said Tyler is standards of pub-inciuded in involvement." the public -Gabriela Garcia, for the 1-35 TxDOT Spokeswoman section because future plans call for a possible corridor branching off that section and moving through this area. Such a branch would come much later in the 50-year plan, because othef "priority" corridors have been slated for See TXDOT, Page 8B Perry signed a bill in June 2003 allowing the state to enter road-building partnerships with private companies.

Three groups of private contractors have submitted secret bids for the first TTC element a corridor connecting North Texas to San Antonio, roughly parallel to 1-35. The exact route won't be unveiled until the five-member Texas Transportation Commission, appointed by the governor, selects a winning bid in 2005, but environmental studies are already underway. Those studies are the subject of Wednesday's meeting in Tyler. It will be an "open house" forum at the Rose Garden Center, with state transportation officials available to answer questions from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The environmental studies focus on an area up to 50 miles wide. Later studies will narrow the scope to a few miles, from which the precise corridor route By MARK COLLETTE Staff Writer David Stall envisions the lifeblood of his rural Texas town trickling away, car by car, until the highway intersection at Columbus finally folds, taking with it 80 percent of the town's sales tax revenue. As it stands now, the circle of businesses around Interstate 10 looks like scores of other commercial clusters in towns that cling to major highways across Texas, feeding On a steady flow of truckers and tourists. But that's all going to change. Stall says, and people in Tyler, where a transportation meeting is set Wednesday, Front Street Safety Questioned UT lyier Names Provost By SHAUNA WONZER Staff Writer A nearly eight-month long national search ended Wednesday when The University of Texas at Tyler named a new provost and vice president of academic affairs.

Dr. Richard L. Osbum, Constable: Off Ballot For Code Violation i Man Caught Voting In Opposite Party By KENNETH DEAN Staff Writer HENDERSON Rusk County voters; will have one less candidate to give their support after a longtime Democrat constable was caught voting in the opposite party ill February's primary election. Pat Edwards, Rusk County Republican party chairperson, said she found the problem when looking for an election clerk in the Tatum area and found incumbent Precinct 2 Constable Jack Jennings, 72, had voted Republican in the primary. "After I read the election code section 62.015, it was my understanding that he was disqualified from the general election.

When I called the Texas Secretary of State, they verified this," she said. Section 62.015 outlines the restrictions on candidacy in a general election by a candidate or voter in the primary. The section states a person who voted at a primary election or who was a candidate for nomination in a primary is ineligible for a place on the ballot for the succeeding general election for state and county officers as1: an independent candidate for an office for which a candidate was nominated in the primary or the nominee of a political party other than the party holding the primary in which the person voted or was a candidate. It also states a person who was a candidate for nomination in a primary election is ineligible for a place on the list of write-in candidates for the succeeding general election for state and county officers as a write-in candidate for the office sought by that candidate in the primary. Mrs.

Edwards said after she learned See CONSTABLE, Page 6B Local CBS Station Hits Air Monday By GREG JUNEK Business Editor On Monday many East Texans will begin watching the CBS network on a new station KYTX broadcast channel 1 9 in Tyler. East Texas cable companies will also switch their offerings from KTVT, the Dallas CBS affiliate, to the new Tyler-based station. Phil Hurley, president and general manager of Max Media of Texas LP, said the new Max Media-owned station, 221 1 ESE Loop 323, will actually go on the air at 12:01 a.m. as KLSB and operate 24 hours with those call letters before becoming KYTX. Max Media of Texas LP signed an agree-; ment to purchase KLSB-TV in Nacogdoches in October 2003 for $4 million, and the purchase was approved by the Federal Communications Commission earlier this year.

CBS also announced KLSB would become one of its affiliate stations. Hurley said the transactions for Max Media to purchase KLSB and its broadcast license from Cobb Corp. will close Monday. See STATION, Page 7B tip who was among the four finalists who visited the university after the field was narrowed from 127 applicants, was named to the position. He will take over the post June 1 at a salary of $149,000, according to university data.

OSBURN Hazardous Materials Route Action Tabled; New Cameras Go Up By LAURA JETT KRANTZ Staff Writer Concerned about hazardous chemicals that pass near downtown Tyler everyday and the potential for disaster, the Traffic Safety Board again discussed eliminating Front Street from the hazardous materials truck route during its Tuesday meeting. Currently trucks carrying hazardous materials use Loop 323 and Front Street. "If you look at what's being hauled some of those things if they come into contact with the air we're going to have a problem," said Clyde Sanders, board chairman. "We need to look at the best way to minimize loss of life and injuries should something happen." But officials acknowledge part of the problem is they don't know what exactly is coming through Tyler. Police Sgt.

Herbert Hayter said he called the Department of Public Safety to try to determine what type of material travels through the city and how often. He discovered DPS does not keep track of the exact route a truck takes, only that it will be coming into the area. On the question of containment, Tyler Fire Department Capt. Mike Willis said either route has its drawbacks. "There are so many variables that any spill is going to be difficult in a populated area," he said.

"It's going to be difficult either way." Board member Butch Wilkerson said during the average week day, evacuating multi-story buildings downtown, the hospitals, several schools and the jail seems like a more difficult proposition. "Your ability to contain something on the loop would far exceed your ability to contain it in a downtown area," Wilkerson said. "When you're in downtown, you're basically in a box." Sanders said the board should also consider how limiting truck traffic to the loop would affect local businesses and already congested loop traffic. Tyler Traffic Engineer Kirk Houser said he would look into the logistics of an accurate accounting of how many and what type of trucks use Front Street as a cut through, instead of using the See TRAFFIC, Page 6B 4 Dr. Osbum served as the interim president and university provost and chief academic officer at Florida Atlantic University.

At UT Tyler, he will be responsible for academic programs, academic budgets, policy development and implementation and matters affecting the faculty. university thrives on excellence and has a truly beautiful campus," Osbum said in a statement released by UT Tyler. "I like what I saw during my visit and I am confident I can help the university continue to grow and develop its research capability and move to the next level as a nationally respected comprehensive university." The national search for a UT Tyler provost and vice president of academic affairs began after Dr. David O'Keeffe resigned from the position in August 2003 to return to teaching and research. Dr.

Jim Tarter, UT Tyler faculty and one of the four finalists for the position, served the position during an interim period until a replacement could be found. Dr. Tarter will resume his previous role as Dean of the College of Business and Technology. Dr. Osbum earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees in biology from Georgia Southern University.

He received his doctorate degree in entomology from the University of Georgia. "We are extremely happy to have Dr. Osbum join the UT Tyler team," President Dr. Rodney Mabry said in a See PROVOST, Page 6B Staff Photo By Tom Worner KEEPING WATCH: A traffic reviewing device sits at the Intersection of Troup Highway and Dulse Street on Tuesday In Tyler. The new cameras help traffic congestion and direct light changes.

Woods Elementary Mural Mark Of Talent, Teamwork pi iff apa SiipIbs mil Www Friday. An official unveiling ceremony was also conducted during a PTA meeting Tuesday. The project, titled "A Legacy in Glass," shows a collection of symbols depicting the school mascot, Texas and patriotism. It was funded with a $1,000 grant from Tyler Independent School District Foundation and about $600 contributed by the school PTA. Stained glass murals for elementary schools are not new, but Ms.

Stewart re-interpreted the concept and its usage after seeing a presentation at the'annual Texas Art Education Association conference last year in San Antonio. It's a very easy, way to teach the concept of pubtjc art, created by an artist for everyone to see, which is hard for elementary pupils to grasp, Ms. Stewart said. When elementary pupils come to her art room, their concept of art is very individualized and to them, their artwork is theirs, something they created and take home, Ms. Stewart said.

She often draws their attention to the dolphin statue at Bergfeld Park as an example of public art, but students' reaction often is "huh?" What better way to teach the By BETTY WATERS Staff Writer Children's eyes proudly fix during lunch on a stained glass mural, giving an aesthetic uplift to Woods Elementary School's cafeteria. Rather than a professional artist's work, the striking mural represents artistic endeavors of about 750 pairs of small hands. The entire student body including two blind children and a pupil in a wheelchair plus some former students, joined by staff members and about 25-30 parents, responded to an invitation from art teacher Carolyn Stewart to help with its creation. The large and diverse volunteer work crew of students and adults spent a week producing the three-foot by 25-foot mosaic mural, which consists of five stained glass window panels constructed in the school art room and then hung in a wall separating the serving and eating areas of the school cafeteria. Each participant glued glass onto an assigned section of a window, but none saw the entire mural until a couple of unveilings.

Since it was primarily a student production, students got the first peek when they were allowed to file by the completed mural last Staff Photo By Tom Womer MONUMENTAL MURAL: Students at Andy Woods Elementary School In Tyler view a stained glass mural on Friday. The mural was designed and created by current and former students, along with teachers of Woods Elementary. symbolizing many musicians come from Texas and a wrangler, the school's mascot. Prior to starting work, the stu dents received lessons about safer ty while working with glass. "They all told me afterwards, that this was harder than they expected, (but) they said that it.

was the best project, their favorite project," Ms. Stewart said. "They had a wonderful time." students attached pieces of stained glass broken from sheets of glass to depict symbols in the mural. Under their hands, bluebonnets and a longhom head appeared in one window. Other windows show the Texas tree (a pecan tree), the state bird (mockingbird), the Alamo, American flag, Texas flag, outline of the state, cactus from West Texas, a yellow rose since Tyler is the rose capital, a guitar using symbols students voted on, then she laid the drawings on tables underneath sheets of glass as a pattern.

Kindergarten, first- and second-grade pupils followed the pattern in gluing on gems or nuggets of flattened glass marbles, the kind used in floral arrangements, to form the mural's background. Third-, first- and second-grade concept of public art than a hands-on mural project for everyone to enjoy, Ms. Stewart said. Students relished working on the project and thought the cafeteria a good place to hang the mural. It is a common ground where they all go everyday, socialize, eat, attend assemblies and other events.

Ms. Stewart sketched the layout for the stained glass pictures,.