Stories from Wednesday, October 19, 2005

I have got to get in better shape. It isn't just the realization that another birthday is fast approaching, it's the fact that this past weekend, I watched a 62-year-old man -- who should already be dead considering past self-abuse -- prance, dance and strut across a stage for over two hours without slowing down...

Funeral services for Algie Marie Green, 90, of Coffee County, who died Wednesday at Life Care Center in Tullahoma, will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Gowen-Smith Chapel. Burial will follow at Concord Cemetery in Manchester.

A memorial service for William Lane Abernathy, 84, of Murfreesboro will be held 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 315 E. Main St. in Murfreesboro, with a reception following. Abernathy died Oct. 9 at his home.

Funeral services for J.C. Burks Sr., 74, of Shelbyville, who died Tuesday at Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro, will be 2 p.m. Thursday at Hillcrest Funeral Home. Ray Armstrong and Mike Gregory will officiate and burial will follow in Hillcrest Memorial Gardens...

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Tuesday denied requests that would stop the Feb. 7 execution of a 43-year-old man who's been on death row 20 years for the stabbing death of a Shelbyville woman. However, Gregory Thompson's Nashville attorney, Michael Passino, managed to keep statements in the condemned man's case file saying that his insanity has grown worse and so he's not mentally fit to be executed...

Apparently, it's as predictable as the seasons. Ron and Juanita Adcock have their hay spiders out in front of their home on U.S. Highway 41-A again. The fanciful creatures remind us that Halloween is coming, but once that dark and spooky night is gone, the spiders are to morph into a turkey for Thanksgiving and later into a Santa figure who eventually becomes a snowman...

The Shelbyville Times-Gazette news department has a new reporter, coming here from his work as a minister in Murfreesboro. Doug Dezotell is the newspaper's education reporter who will also cover a variety of feature stories and news events...

MURFREESBORO -- It was a match between two young teams that feature a lot of team speed playing for a spot in the Region 4-AAA championship game on Thursday night and a guaranteed berth in the TSSAA Sub-State on Saturday. With that said, it was the elimination round--and it wasn't one of the best performances of the year for Shelbyville Central as they closed out the season with a 4-1 loss to host Siegel on Tuesday night...

Funeral services for Woodrow Teal, who died Friday at Lynchburg Nursing Center, were held Sunday at Noah's Fork Baptist Church. Burial followed at Farrar Hill Cemetery. Manchester Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Bedford County Board of Commissioners' rules and legislative committee, meeting Tuesday night, added its recommendation to the proposal for Bedford County to participate in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The program provides free books to preschool children, one book per month. ...

Adults attending the 19th Annual Tennessee Box Lunch got in touch with their inner children on Tuesday, as children's entertainer and author Jim Moore presented a high-energy program featuring songs and audience participation activities from his award-winning children's albums...