Stories from Thursday, April 6, 2006

Traffic and growth are two issues local leaders are grappling with more and more as both business and housing expands in this area of Tennessee, which is why they are promoting the idea of expanding State Highway 64 west of Shelbyville to four lanes...

Scott Johnson of Bedford County Emergency Management Agency said last weekend's tornado deaths in West Tennessee should be a reminder to all to be careful about thunderstorms and tornadoes, especially in this season. "Locally, we are vulnerable as well," said Johnson. ...

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's report on the shooting death of a Hispanic businessman almost three weeks ago is to be completed in another week, or three, or another two and a half months, depending on who's talking. Meanwhile, Shelbyville Police Officer James Wilkerson remains on paid leave until the TBI completes its report, according to City Manager Ed Craig and Police Chief Austin Swing. Officer Bruce Davis, was returned to duty 16 days ago...

Shelbyville Central's new head football coach will be recognized by most Golden Eagle fans. Former defensive coordinator Jason Hardy was named head coach Wednesday morning by principal Don Embry and met with his new team later in the afternoon. He replaces Whit Taylor, who recently became assistant principal at Harris Middle...

Shelbyville Central (12-5, 5-1 District 8-AAA) banged out 15 hits in a 13-3 win over host Tullahoma's Wildcats in the second of a two-game district series Wednesday night. Every Eagle batter had at least one hit. Drew Harris started on the mound but senior left-hander Josh Woods halted the Wildcats' offense. Woods pitched four and one-third innings, not allowing a run or hit while striking out eight and allowing only one base on balls...

84 Lumber is to close its store in Shelbyville, along with 66 other stores in 19 states, including seven in Tennessee. But the company announced Tuesday that it plans to open 125 new stores in faster-growing areas in at least 20 states. Other stores in Tennessee to be shuttered are in Kingsport, Oak Ridge, Knoxville-Clinton Highway, Union City, Lawrenceburg and Decherd. New locations in Tennessee to open this year are in Chattanooga, Hendersonville and Piperton...

Webb fell behind 2-0 after an inning of play and never managed to wrestle the lead away from Ensworth in a 9-3 loss in Bell Buckle on Wednesday afternoon. The Feet (2-7) rallied to narrow the gap to 5-2 in the bottom of the third behind RBI singles from both Logan Burchett and Devon MacDougall...

Community avenged an early season thumping by Moore County, winning 15-5 in five innings Tuesday behind outstanding pitching by Amanda Joslyn. "We finally saw the team that I have bragging about all season," Coach Megan Hardin said. "We had some timely hits by eighth graders Tiffay Kimberlin and Amber Woods in crucial situations early in the game to get us jump-started...

Harris Middle's tennis teams found the going tough against Siegel Tuesday at H.V.Griffin Park. The boys fell 5-1 and girls 7-3. Mallory Hutton and Kasondra Johnson were girls' singles winners; Hutton and Bailie Martin teamed up in doubles. Will Cares notched the boys' win, 7-6 over Taylor Rutland...

Artificial insemination of horses in Tennessee won't require a veterinarian's supervision after an act of the state Legislature is signed by Gov. Phil Bredesen later this month, according to Bedford County's delegation to the General Assembly. Identical bills have been approved by the House and Senate, according to state Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) who on Wednesday said the act "should be ready" for Gov. Phil Bredesen's signature at "any time," so it could become law next week...

An assistant public defender who lives in Shelbyville filed papers Wednesday to challenge the Shelbyville man appointed last year by the governor to fill a vacancy on the circuit court bench. For some observers it's the first publicly documented indication of competition in the 17th Judicial District's four counties as four other races for court system positions might not attract more than one candidate each...