Stories from Friday, July 22, 2005

Funeral services for Alice Bias Bell, 92, of Shelbyville, who died Wednesday at Glen Oaks Nursing Home, will be 11 a.m. Monday at Bellview Missionary Baptist Church with the Rev. Timothy Wright officiating. Burial will follow at Mt. Ararat Cemetery.

Graveside services for Stephen Leo Armstrong, 48, of Shelbyville, who died Wednesday, will be 2 p.m. Saturday at Hollywood Cemetery in Wartrace. Hillcrest Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Bedford County Board of Commissioners' budget and finance committee, meeting Thursday night, recommended an increase of 28 cents per $100 assessed value on the county property tax rate. A taxpayer with a home appraised at $80,000, leading to an assessed value of $20,000, would pay $56 more each year in property taxes under the increase...

A man brandishing a handgun robbed a Union Street convenience store of a large sum of money Wednesday night. The man entered shortly before 10 p.m. and pointed the gun at the store's owner, who was working behind the counter, police said. "The suspect told (the owner) to open the register and give him the money," Officer Josh Leverette said. "He did comply and put the money in a bag."...

If the Tennessee Valley Authority votes to raise its rates today, those costs and possibly more may be passed down to Duck River Electric Membership Corp. customers. TVA had already announced its intention to increase the rate it charges for electricity by 7.52 percent...

The second of two men who robbed a Beech Grove man in his home 13 months ago has pleaded guilty and this past week he was sentenced to 13-1/2 years in prison. Ellis Sanders Baucom Jr., 37, previously of Old Hickory, was sentenced by Bedford County Circuit Court Judge Robert Crigler to 30 years and 15 years on charges of robbery and burglary, respectively...

There's good news and bad news. The good news is that Tennessee will be getting a sales tax holiday in early August. The bad news is that it won't happen until next year. Earlier this year, the Tennessee General Assembly passed Public Chapter 398 which established an annual sales tax holiday beginning in August 2006...

Funeral services for Rena Leveta Bain, 84, who died Thursday in Shelbyville, will be 2 p.m. EDT Sunday in the Valley View Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home. Steve Davis will officiate and burial will follow in Hamilton Memorial Gardens.

The final three championships were decided as this year's Shelbyville City Open tennis tournament concluded Thursday at H.V. Griffin Park. Rickey Clardy captured the Men's B Singles title with a 6-2, 2-1 victory over William Keathley. Mary Beth Gunn took home the Women's A Singles crown by downing Mallory Hutton 6-1, 6-3. Sarah Dickerson won the Women's B Singles division 6-0, 6-0 over Katie Feldhaus...