Stories from Monday, January 10, 2005

NASHVILLE (AP) -- Tennessee Republicans, for so long the minority party in the shadows of the state Senate, have ambitious plans this year. The Republicans are promising to use their first elected majority -- including Sen. Jim Tracy of Shelbyville -- in more than a century to demand constitutional bans on gay marriage and restrictions on abortion rights when the session opens Tuesday...

U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, the only Tennessee member of Congress to serve as ranking member of a full committee since the late Rep. Jimmy Quillen of Kingsport, has been re-elected the ranking member of the House Science Committee. Quillen served as the ranking member of the Rules Committee from 1989-90. ...

NOTE: In early March, Shelbyville family practitioner Dr. Frank Jayakody and his wife Priya will return to their native Sri Lanka, bringing along other local residents for a visit that was in the planning stages long before the recent tsunami. After a recent mention of this trip, Mrs. Jayakody contacted the newsletter to offer additional details about Sri Lanka and their trip...

Who would have predicted it? Host Webb, coming off their first win of the season just recently on Thursday night, took a Cascade team that is undefeated after six games in District 11-A to double-overtime Saturday night. A Matt Davis basket put the Feet up 45-43 with 32 seconds left in the fourth quarter before Alex Craig tied it with a bucket of his own with 13 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime...

Trailing by 15 at halftime, Webb threw caution to the wind and battled back hard against local rival Cascade behind the second half scoring of Jessica Miller and Ashley Young. Miller's 3-pointer with 45 seconds remaining cut the score to 43-38, but the visiting Lady Champions would have no more and held on for a 46-38 victory...