Stories from Monday, November 21, 2005

A memorial service for Bonnie Jean Perry, 61, of Wartrace, who died Saturday at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, will be 7 p.m. today at Gowen-Smith Chapel. Jimmy Gray will officiate.

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 manufacturing jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008, including one line at Spring Hill, Tenn., as part of an effort to get production in line with demand...

A state appeals court in Florida upheld a lower court's decision last week that grants a foster couple in Orange City custody of a 4-year-old boy who has been the object of a legal tug of war between them and his relatives in Bell Buckle. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the 5th District Court of Appeal's made the ruling on Wednesday which may pave the way for Denise and Ivar Baklid to reunite with the boy, Christian, who was removed from their custody almost 2 1/2 years ago...

Tyler Smith had a huge night with 26 points and 16 rebounds to lead host Victory Baptist to a 64-24 win over Benton Hall on Friday night. "Tyler had a very big game. Never got in foul trouble," Patriot coach David Adcock said. "I had talked to him all week about keeping his head. He was very patient tonight and played his best game of the year...

Webb dropped their first contest of the season 63-39 to host Red Boiling Springs on Friday. "Hopefully we'll just chalk this up to first game jitters," Webb coach Jon Bloom said. "Our defense played pretty decent in the first half other than not boxing out. But, we had trouble making shots. And, we gave them some second chance points...

NASHVILLE -- Jacksonville scored on four of their five possessions in the second half to claim a 31-28 win over the Titans on Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum. "Today, you saw two different games," Titan coach Jeff Fisher said. "You saw a quarter and a half of great defense and then their offense came alive, obviously, in the second half."...

KNOXVILLE -- Shelbyville Central football coach and former Vanderbilt quarterback Whit Taylor can finally lay to rest his tenure as the last Commodore quarterback to beat Tennessee. Jay Cutler repeated the performance as Vanderbilt downed the Vols 28-24 on Saturday at Neyland Stadium, ending the Volunteers' 22-game winning streak against the Commodores dating back to 1982...

Hohenwald's utilities superintendent is being recommended by Bedford County Utility District's Personnel Committee to be the general manager of the system that provides natural gas and water service in rural Bedford County. Don Meredith, 59, of Centerville in Hickman County, is scheduled to meet with BCUD commissioners Tuesday afternoon for discussions that, given all accounts, would appear to be leading to his employment here and probable move to Bedford County...