Corporate News

Fire Academy to hold graduation Friday (05/05/08)
Recruits from Shelbyville Fire Department will be standing tall Friday as they officially complete their training at the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy on Unionville-Deason Road. State Fire Marshal and Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Leslie A. Newman will deliver the commencement address to the recruit firefighter class at the Academy at 9 a.m....

Marijuana, stolen gun found after traffic stop (05/03/08)
A gun stolen 15 years ago was recovered during a traffic stop late Thursday night, Shelbyville police said. Officer Jody Shelton said he stopped the car occupied by driver Jake Allen Raby, 22, East Lane Street, and passenger Damon Juvea Hickmon, 21, King Arthur Trailer Court, due to no headlights in use at night. A strong odor of marijuana was coming from the...

Foster mother accused of statutory rape (05/03/08)
A Shelbyville foster mother has been indicted by the Bedford County grand jury for allegedly having sex with a foster child she had access to. Alea Rhea Rippy, 25, has been charged with eight counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, according to true bills issued by the grand jury on April 21...

Patel sentenced for tax evasion (05/03/08)
A Shelbyville businessman will spend less than a year in federal prison after he pled guilty to income tax evasion earlier this year. Dharmendra B. Patel, 41, of Shelbyville was sentenced Thursday in Chattnooga by U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier to serve nine months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release...

Man struck, killed in front yard (04/28/08)
A Unionville-area man is dead, struck by a vehicle while standing in his front yard Monday, and the man accused of causing the wreck is spending the night in Bedford County Jail. Robert "Bobby" Brown, 69, U.S. 41-A North, Unionville, died a few minutes after the mid-afternoon accident. A LifeFlight helicopter was en route to Bedford County Medical Center but Brown was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital...

Head-on crash takes life (04/28/08)
A head-on collision on a narrow, rural road left a Bedford County man dead and another seriously injured Monday morning. William Howard Cooper, 81, Possom Trot Road, died about 9:15 a.m. at the scene on Sandusky Road shortly after the impact drove the passenger side of the truck in which he was riding into a guard rail....

Unemployment rate shows slight rise (04/28/08)
Bedford County's unemployment rate for March rose slightly to 5.8 percent, according to figures released by the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development. The county reportedly had a total work force of 22,940, with 21,610 working and 1,330 unemployed, meaning that the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percent since February...

Thief enters home, departs with $8 (04/28/08)
A home on Kingdom Road in northern Bedford County was entered while the occupants were in bed early Friday morning. Only $8 was taken from one room, according to a report filed by Cpl. Kent Jacobs of the Bedford County Sheriff's Department. The screen was torn from a front window to gain entry...

Riddle pleads 'not guilty' in Floyd murder (04/28/08)
LYNCHBURG -- A Moore County grand jury indicted a Tullahoma man on charges of first degree murder Friday in the stabbing death of a young Wartrace man. Jacob Wayne "Jake" Riddle entered a plea of not guilty of murdering 20-year-old Joseph Timothy Floyd of Wartrace...

Unionville man dies following three-vehicle crash (04/26/08)
A Unionville man died Friday following a three-vehicle crash at a dangerous Shelbyville intersection. Allen Haynes, 71, of U.S. 41-A North, was pronounced dead on arrival at Bedford County Medical Center, Maj. Jan Phillips of the Shelbyville Police Department said...

A big bang at the Fire Academy (04/25/08)
If you think you hear explosions around Bedford County next week, there isn't anything to be worried about. "Post blast training" is to be conducted at the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy (TFACA) on Unionville-Deason Road by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) next week for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) in preparation for possible deployment...

Planners address church, cycles, waste treatment (04/25/08)
A new church building, a motorcycle dealership and an improved treatment plant for Tyson were some of the items addressed by the Shelbyville Planning Commission Thursday. A public hearing was held concerning Shelbyville's new subdivision regulations before the commission meeting began. No one spoke about the new rules and the commission approved the regulations after that...

Utility plan for BCNH will cut costs (04/24/08)
Bedford County Nursing Home presented a plan Tuesday night to the county's Financial Management Committee which will allow it to separate its utility services from the Bedford County Medical Center building. Earlier this year, some county officials, hearing that it would cost up to $50,000 per month to operate the boiler which serves both buildings, were concerned that the nursing home would become a drain on county finances once the hospital moves to a new location this summer. ...

Copper taken from underneath home (04/24/08)
An estimated $2,500 worth of copper wiring was stolen between April 16 and Monday from a home under construction in Valley View Estates subdivision on Red Hill Road in Normandy. Builder John Morton told the Bedford County Sheriff's Department the wiring was taken from underneath the home...

Community Closet needs new building (04/24/08)
For much of the past year, the Community Closet at 405 Depot St. has been helping out the less fortunate by feeding and clothing those in dire straits. Now, the organization itself needs the community's help. The building used by the Closet's volunteers has been sold and they have to be out by the first of July...

Murder suspect bound over to Grand Jury (04/23/08)
LYNCHBURG -- A Tullahoma man has been bound over to the Moore County grand jury, who will decide if first degree murder charges are warranted for the stabbing death of a Wartrace man. Jacob Wayne "Jake" Riddle of Tullahoma has been charged with criminal homicide in connection with the death of 20-year-old Joseph Timothy Floyd, who was fatally stabbed in the early morning hours of Feb. 2 at a party in the Lost Creek area of Moore County near Tims Ford Lake...

Shelbyville bank robbed; suspect escapes (04/23/08)
The thief who robbed First Community Bank's Madison Street branch at mid-afternoon today (Tuesday) may have gotten away red-handed -- literally. A red dye bomb within a money bag taken in the robbery exploded less than 100 yards away behind the bank, police said...

TWHBEA names executive director (04/22/08)
Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association (TWHBEA) announced Sunday that Stan Butt has been named as executive director. Butt has been serving as interim executive director since December. "Stan has done an outstanding job of helping restore financial accountability and fiscal responsibility to our Association," said Mike Inman, TWHBEA vice president for administrative, fiscal and audit matters, who chairs the group's personnel committee. ...

Officers follow their noses to drug suspects (04/22/08)
Police say the smell of marijuana led them to two suspects early Saturday night. An off-duty officer said he saw a car drive under Veterans Memorial Bridge near Fisherman's Park in downtown Shelbyville, then smelled a marijuana odor coming from the vehicle a few minutes later...

Blackburn rallies local GOP (04/21/08)
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn stressed energy, the economy and national security during a speech Saturday night at the annual Bedford County Republican Party banquet. The banquet was held at the Blue Ribbon Circle on the Celebration grounds. Blackburn said the party's losses in 2006 were the result of a loss of focus on key messages...

Stores burglarized along Highway 64 (03/29/08)
A thief took the grand tour of rural convenience stores west of Shelbyville overnight Wednesday, getting away with merchandise from two locations. Deputies responded following a alarm about 11:30 p.m. to find glass broken in the drive-through window, through which the market was apparently entered, a report by Cpl. Kent Jacobs said...

Bell Buckle hires judge, attorney (03/29/08)
Bell Buckle's board of Mayor and Aldermen met for a brief special called meeting Friday to hire a municipal judge and a new city attorney. The board voted to hire Bill Haywood, who serves as Chapel Hill's municipal judge and city attorney for Lewisburg, as judge for the small village at a cost of $300 per session...

Tyson defends hiring practices, works with refugees (03/28/08)
Tyson Foods officials have been working with the imam of Shelbyville's Islamic mosque to bridge the cultural gap that exists between the Somali community and the rest of the public. Representatives of the company also dismissed lingering charges of Tyson hiring illegal immigrants as "myths and misconceptions."...

Sanford honored for support of Guard member (03/28/08)
Sanford Brands' distribution center on Railroad Avenue has been honored by Employee Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) for its support of employees while they are away from their full-time jobs in the service of their country. Melissa Barker supervises Sanford's outbound distribution division. On March 24, she was presented with an award for her compassion and support as an employer of a Tennessee Army National Guardsman...

Flat Creek residents help catch burglary suspects (03/28/08)
A father and son have been charged in a series of daytime home burglaries in the Flat Creek and Wartrace areas after alert residents helped officials track the suspects. James Arthur Brown, 43, and Joe Brown, 20, who are both listed as residents of Forest Hills Apartments in Shelbyville, were arrested Wednesday while driving on New Hope Road. A 17-year-old girl was also charged...

Tyson says it has corrected sewage issue (03/27/08)
Problems with Tyson Foods' sewage treatment facility at its chicken processing plant in Shelbyville have been corrected, according to company officials. Last Feburary, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) issued a notice of violation to Tyson Foods' environmental office in Shelbyville, stating that the plant's sewage treatment facility discharged effluent into the Duck River with levels of ammonia greater than allowed by the plant's permit...

Tyson CEO says ethanol will lead to higher food costs (03/27/08)
When Dick Bond says that the price of food will soon go up due to increased ethanol production, you'd best listen to him. He should know: he's the president and CEO of Tyson Foods. Bond paid a rare visit to the Shelbyville poultry complex Wednesday to tour the facility and meet with plant management as well as officials from around Bedford County...

Nashville center strives to help Shelbyville Somalis (03/24/08)
For the Somali Community Center of Nashville, Fridays are generally known as "Shelbyville Day." That's when carloads of Somali refugees from Bedford County head to the city for assistance from the center, which provides social services and advocacy "to meet the needs of refugees and immigrants in a culturally sensitive manner," according to program coordinator Kerry Foley...

Seminar in Murfreesboro focuses on Somalis (03/24/08)
MURFREESBORO -- "There will always be change." Those were the words of Salaad Nur, a Somali immigrant who spoke Thursday evening at Middle Tennessee State University to a group of students about the refugees who have moved to this state after fleeing their war torn country...

Timely phone call led to grand jury action (03/24/08)
Bedford County's grand jury has indicted a Shelbyville man on theft and traffic charges arising from a December incident that culminated with his arrest at about the time police were interviewing the complainant. With a suspect in custody, an observant officer noticed his prisoner had a cell phone, so he had a fellow officer call the victim's number. The cell phone found on the suspect began to ring, according to police reports...

Cost control emphasized to county officials (03/21/08)
Cost control and record-keeping were stressed during a meeting Thursday of the county's department heads. The quarterly luncheon meeting was held Thursday at the Bedford County Emergency Management Agency building on Railroad Avenue. It included the presentation of bonus checks to the staff of Bedford County Zoning Office for their cost-saving measures...

Marijuana discovered during traffic stop (03/21/08)
The driver of a car initially stopped due to a defective taillight was charged with possession of marijuana after a vehicle search Wednesday night. Michelle Lynn Andrus, 21, Shelbyville Mills Road, was stopped by Officer David Curley in the parking lot of a Madison Street bar, As a computer check showed her license had been revoked for DUI, Andrus allegedly told a waitress who was checking on the commotion that she would "have to be arrested for DUI."...

Two churches step up for disaster relief (03/20/08)
Last year, Bedford County Emergency Management Agency began working with area churches to provide short-term shelter locations where people could ride out a severe storm in safety. But those shelters are only meant for a few hours, until severe weather has passed. What happens in the event of a major disaster, like the tornadoes that struck Tennessee in February, when a substantial number of people lose their homes all at once?...

Father accused of forcibly taking son (03/20/08)
An eight-month-old boy is back with his mother following a brief ordeal Wednesday in Shelbyville. Michael Brothers, 20, Madison Street, is being held at Bedford County Jail on $16,000 bond, charged with vandalism, reckless endangerment and violating an order of protection...

Trucker charged in serious wreck (03/20/08)
The truck driver accused of causing an eight-vehicle pileup March 12 on Madison Street has been charged with reckless endangerment. Teresa K. McInnis, 46, of Morrison was arrested after arriving at Shelbyville police headquarters Tuesday to pick up a copy of the accident report...

Interest shown in nursing home (03/19/08)
A representative of a company which might be interested in buying Bedford County Nursing Home appeared Tuesday night before Bedford County Board of Commissioners' courthouse and county property committee. County commissioners are deeply divided on the issue of selling the home. ...

Donations still sought for World War II vets' trip (03/19/08)
Donations are still needed for next month's trip to the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. for Bedford County's World War II veterans. According to Robert Daniel, who is heading up the project, March 25 is the cutoff date for veterans to register and donations are still arriving...