Stories from Saturday, April 1, 2006

SHELBYVILLE, April 1 -- Members of the Tennessee Walking Gerbil Association have announced plans for a Tennessee Walking Gerbil National Celebration to be held in September in Shelbyville. "The Tennessee Walking Gerbil is a distinctive breed and it deserves its own special recognition," said Dave S. Henry, who proposed the show, which is expected to draw more than 40,000 spectators from across the U.S. and from parts of Lichtenstein, where the Tennessee Walking Gerbil is known to be popular...

One of the things that bothers me most about this country is the way in which political debate seems to have become so much more polarized. I still believe there are plenty of moderates out there, but in many cases it's hard to hear them because the soreheads on either end of the spectrum are so loud...

Voter registration for Bedford County's May 2 primary ended yesterday as registration forms postmarked Saturday will be accepted at the Election Commission office in the county courthouse. And while there wasn't a line of people waiting at the last minute, there was a minor rush of people delivering registration forms for friends and those who've filled out the forms as they consulted with state social workers...

The Rev. Ben C. Mathes of Dawsonville, Ga., president of the faith-based relief group Rivers of the World, told Shelbyville Breakfast Rotary Club members on Wednesday that his organization has worked with Rotary International to inoculate 65,000 children a year against polio...

Cascade opened up a 3-0 first inning lead and cruised from there en route to a 10-0 win over Northwest in the Warrior Classic at Shelbyville Central High School on Friday. Tyler Bowman's single scored MoMo Stewart to open up the scoring. J.R. Thomes followed with a base hit. Nick Davis executed a squeeze bunt to plate Bowman. An error at third base by Northwest scored Thomes...

Webb lacrosse returned to winning form by taking down host University School of Nashville 12-11 on Friday. They completed a stretch of five consecutive road matches in fine fashion as Rhea Hyatt scored the game-winning goal off an assist from Will Taylor with just 30 seconds remaining...