Stories from Saturday, December 10, 2005

First of a five-part series. Imagine growing up in a town so wicked you witness your first murder at the age of 13. It was called "Sin City" and it really existed. There was a movie made about it, but it wasn't the recent Robert Rodriguez film noir effort with an all-star cast...

I hope all of you will take the time to read my piece on Jack Culpepper and his experiences growing up in the wickedest town in America, which begins its run today. I had a lot of fun researching it and was fascinated by the background of the town. This one came about after Jack's youngest son, a close friend of mine, recently took his parents down to Phenix City to visit family. ...

I recently received an email containing "16 Things That It Took Me Over 50 Years to Learn" by Dave Barry. One of the things was "There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." I can relate. A few years ago I picked up the "hobby" of collecting Ty Beanie Babies. I started collecting not long before the craze died down, which meant a couple of months later the ones I had purchased for $7 could be found at flea markets for $1...

Registration of children with the Imagination Library is to be a reading class exercise during adult literacy courses in Bedford County and across Tennessee, two officials from the programs announced late last week. Started by Dolly Parton in her home town, Imagination Libraries have cropped up across Tennessee with matching funds from the Governor's Books from Birth Foundation to provide a book a month to children until they reach age 5...

One of the three associations that created the National Horse Show Commission has given notice that it doesn't want to renew its contract as written, according to leaders of several horse industry groups. The commission that plays a crucial role in Tennessee Walking Horse shows can continue with only two members and may well resume with three, in part because "intense negotiations" are being conducted between the associations, industry leaders explained late last week...

It has an emergency command center, offices and a Highway Patrol station. It has a driver's license testing station, scheduled to open some time next month. What it doesn't have yet is a name. The former Tennessee Rehabilitation Center on Eagle Boulevard (it actually has a Railroad Avenue street address) is now the home to Bedford County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and the local Tennessee Highway Patrol station, both of which moved in to the facility last month from their previous homes on Union Street. ...

A man who allegedly told conflicting stories to investigators has been charged in connection with the burglary of a Kingdom Road residence last week. Brian Vise, 27, U.S. 231 North, Deason was charged this week with aggravated burglary, theft of property and filing a false report. He is being held at Bedford County Jail on $50,000 bond...

Could there be a changing of the guard at the top of District 8-AAA? Shelbyville Central took one step closer to that claim after defeating host Columbia Central 76-61 on Friday night. "Columbia has just owned this district over the years," Shelbyville coach Kevin Thomas said. "I think they have won the district 28 of the last 32 years. We have wanted to get our program to the level of theirs since I've been at Shelbyville. This is a positive step in that direction."...

One might say it was a sweet homecoming for Shelbyville senior Janay Armstrong as she led the visiting Golden Eaglettes to an impressive 54-49 victory over her former team -- Columbia Central -- on Friday night in a District 8-AAA contest. Armstrong, a recent West Virginia signee, transferred from Columbia to Shelbyville over the summer to play her senior year. She led the Lady Lions to the District 8-AAA championship last year and was named district MVP...