BISHOP L. J. GUILLORY SUPPORTS FIRST AIDS WALK IN TYLER TEXAS

First AIDS Walk Starts Saturday

By COSHANDRA DILLARD Staff Writer


The Tyler chapter of Women of Prayer International will host its first AIDS walk at 8 a.m. Saturday. The walk will begin at Bergfeld Park, at the corner of Fourth Street and South Broadway Avenue and end at Dale Chapel Baptist Church, 620 W. Glenwood Blvd.

Organizer Tammy Arterberry said the walk will promote HIV/AIDS awareness as well as domestic abuse prevention.

A program immediately will follow the walk, which includes presentations by Bishop L.J. Guillory, Denise Wolford, Yung Cofer, Dr. Christi Osuagwa, Dr. Roseland Guyton, Dr. Jeanette Deas Calhoun and Pam Banks. 

Beginning at 6 p.m., another program on the topic will start at First Tyler United Methodist Church, 2107 Woodlawn St. There will be a 15-minute drama presentation and musical guests, Ms. Arterberry said.

HIV/AIDS hits close to home for Ms. Arterberry. A close friend was diagnosed with HIV 23 years ago, and she’s had several family members who have been affected by the disease, including two cousins who have died from it.

Ms. Arterberry said she is compassionate to victims of domestic abuse, having been a victim herself as a child.

“I’m real passionate when it comes to domestic violence, rape and molestation,” she said. “I want people to have a voice. I didn’t have a voice. A lot of times there are women who have HIV or AIDS, and they’re also in a domestic violence situation and they are unable to get out. I want to make sure people are being protected.”

SUPPORTING A CAUSE

Ms. Arterberry is teaming up with many local leaders to help educate the community in order to diminish the spread of new HIV infections, particularly among African-American women. 

Mrs. Deas Calhoun will provide information about MPowering Women Over HIV Regional Coalition, a new group of at least 25 community leaders created to disseminate information about HIV prevention.

“We’re expecting the walk to be well supported because there are churches committed to participate, sororities and fraternizes committed to participate. …We’re trying get people to understand how persons become infected.” 

Its primary focus is on black women, as they make up 13 percent of the 66,000 people living with HIV in Texas, according to Texas Department of State Health Services data. In addition, black women make up 57 percent of all women living with HIV in Northeast Texas.

The coalition has identified services most needed in East Texas. They are: increase awareness and provide mentorship to black women at risk for HIV; equip teens to make informed and healthy choices; increase testing and treatment for HIV/AIDs; and increase prenatal services for women at risk.

According to DSHS reports, the rate of new diagnoses in black females is eight times higher in Hispanic females and 14 times greater in white females. 
Learning of that diagnoses too late means an individual is least likely to properly manage their disease.

“The whole emphasis is to have people know their status,” Mrs. Deas Calhoun said.

DON'T SPY ON ME

Tell Congress to protect your privacy from invasive cell phone location spying. Do not forward: This link will open a page with your information already filled in.

Do you use a cell phone? Chances are, your answer is "yes." Does the government have the ability to track where you go, what you do, even who you know — all by using your phone? Well, that's a definite "yes."

The fact is, if you use a cell phone, your location is being recorded and stored. And law enforcement agencies see it as a gold mine of information that's there for the taking. We already know that one local police department sought information about every cell phone that happened to be in the vicinity of a planned labor protest.

We shouldn't have to choose between the convenience of technology and our right to personal privacy. New bills have been introduced by Sen. Wyden and Rep. Chaffetz that would create stronger location privacy protections. Tell your senators and representative to support updated location privacy legislation now. (Do not forward: This link will open a page with your information already filled in.)

Currently, the government claims that it doesn't need to go to a judge and get a full probable cause warrant before tracking cell phones. And because the government's applications are secret, we don't know just how it's using this invasive form of surveillance.

That's why last week, 34 ACLU affiliates across the country filed public records requests to find out just how far local law enforcement is going to track people using their cell phones. Through our public records requests, we expect to learn more about when, why and how local police are using cell phone location data to track us. In the meantime, we need to act now to demand stronger laws that protect all of us.

Tell the government that you want your location information to be kept private.

Thank you for standing with us.

Sincerely,

The ACLU Online Team

BISHOP L. J. GUILLORY AND DJ PAULY D ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE RETURN OF JERSEY SHORE

After six weeks in Italy, the cast of Jersey Shore is back where they belong.


Seaside Heights, N.J.,  Pauly D, JWoww, Sitch, Vinny, Ronnie, Sammi, Deena, and effing Snooki gave returned to their familiar stomping grounds:

Italy was everything he hoped for, DJ Pauly D tells Ombudsman Press News.

The fourth season of MTV's huge hit, which launches Thursday (Aug. 4), has the  "Jersey Shore" gang in Italy. Though Snooki was luke-warm about her experience -- driving into a police car, missing your family while not being able to get your nails and tan done will do that to a guidette -- Pauly D says, "Italy was amazing. It was one of my Top 10 things in life - to go to Italy."

"It was everything I pictured," he says.

Talking from the rooftop of the Jersey Shore house while the gang was shooting the fifth season back in Seaside Heights, Pauly D says, "I pictured it to be Italian flags hanging out of the window, narrow cobblestone roads, the food to be amazing and the women to be beautiful. And they were."

The usual GTL - gym, tan laundry - was harder there. There were no tanning salons.

And, it took 45 minutes to get to the gym. "And we got lost," he says. "It was so hard to drive there."

Witness the accident that made international news when Snooki was driving. 

BISHOP L. J. GUILLORY IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT ARSENIO HALL IS READY FOR TALK SHOW COME BACK

Arsenio Hall has said that a 17-year rest is long enough. Having quit his iconic late-night talk show in 1994, Hall was asked this afternoon during a PBS panel at TCA about an Ed Sullivan Comedy Special premiering Aug. 6 whether he'd consider making a comeback.


"I'd have to change my name to Nick Cannon and live with Mariah (Carey)," he joked. "But I think it's a perfect time for that personally. Give me a microphone. My son's 11 and he can drive himself to school. I'm ready to host!" 


When a critic pressed if he was serious, Hall acknowledged, "It's pretty crowded out there. I'm not sure if it's too crowded for a 55-year-old guy to re-emerge, but if they give me a little daylight I'm gonna slide into it."