By Scott Harvey

Commerce – Keep Commerce Beautiful plans to issue flyers to inform residents of a recycling program for the city where items can be brought to a central location.

Details of the initiative were presented by the organizations' Anne Mills during Tuesday's City Council meeting.

The two American men who stepped out of an Iranian prison Wednesday after spending more than two years in custody may have a tiny Persian Gulf nation to thank for greasing the wheels of their release.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, had been accused of espionage along with fellow American Sarah Shourd and sentenced to eight years in prison. They were freed in exchange for $1 million dollars and flown to Oman.

As Libyans work to form an interim government, some of those competing for power are members of the Muslim Brotherhood, raising fears that Islamist radicals may try to hijack the revolution. But many Libyans say those fears are mostly in the minds of Westerners.

Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi banned the Muslim Brotherhood. The group attempted to overthrow Gadhafi in the 1990s, and he responded with a ferocious crackdown that put many of its members in jail.

Commerce – The following is a proclamation issued by the Commerce ISD Board on Monday, September 19, 2011:

The CISD Board of Trustees would like to publicly thank Superintendent Blake Cooper and the entire CISD staff for their service to the district during this past year of financial uncertainties within the State and particularly within the Commerce Independent School District.

Commerce – The graduate student community has elected Ms. Kim Laird as Doctoral Representative and Ms. Nance Headley as Master's Representative to the Graduate Council for the 2011-2012 academic year.

Ms. Laird is a student in the Department of Educational Leadership and Ms. Headley is a student in the Department of Psychology, Counseling & Special Education. The representatives will serve as voting members of the Council and will be involved in committee work and other responsibilities related to graduate education.

Earlier this month, we reported a heartbreaking story about Billy, a San Francisco Giants fan, who showed up to every game for years, until one day he just stopped coming. The Giants went searching. Giants manager Bruce Bochy told NPR's All Things Considered that he was worried, "hoping to get some good news."

Contestants on the Season 12 Premiere of TV's The Biggest Loser last night may not be the only people motivated to lose weight. Viewers are influenced by weight-loss reality shows, too.

By Scott Harvey

Paris – The Paris News is reporting that longtime Lamar County Sheriff B.J. McCoy will not seek a sixth term in office next year. The announcement of his resignation came today.

According to the newspaper, McCoy will have completed 20 years at the position when his current term expires on December 31, 2012.