Stories from Wednesday, October 25, 2006

For many of us who grew up in 1970s Shelbyville, Wolf Meadows held a mysterious allure. The rumors abounded. It was a legend, along with the Chapel Hill light and the old church halfway down New Hope Road. At the dead end of Stewart Road was a former home for the mentally challenged in the days before group homes and serious treatment and care became common...

A few months back, a city council member in Springfield made some sort of off-the-cuff proposal about denying access to that city's parks based on immigration status. An attorney with a large Nashville law firm who maintains a blog about Latino issues posted an item about this incident, but mistakenly referred to Shelbyville instead of Springfield. ...

A burglary Sunday or Monday at County Clerk Kathy Prater's home on New Center Church Road netted nearly $2,000, according to a Bedford County Sheriff's Department report. The cash was reportedly taken from a desk drawer between 9:35 p.m. Sunday and 8:30 p.m. Monday...

Bedford County Board of Commissioners' budget and finance committee began discussing the possibility of a centralized county financial management system on Tuesday, and will meet again 5 p.m. Nov. 2 in hopes of deciding on a recommendation to the full commission...

Bell Buckle will host its 12th annual Old-Fashioned Haunted Evening Saturday from 5-9 p.m., with a wide variety of activities. There will be a cemetery stroll; fortune tellers; carnival games for all ages; a "haunted hayride" and the chance to go through the Murfreesboro Fire Department's Christy Houston Fire Safety House...

Relatives and close friends of the National Guardsmen returning from Iraq to Shelbyville next month are being called to a briefing on Sunday in the Chamber of Commerce offices on South Cannon Boulevard. Col. Ron Strahle, of the Guard's offices in Smyrna is to oversee the 2 p.m. discussion which is being likened to the briefing conducted at Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church before the soldiers left on Sept. 14 last year...

MURFREESBORO -- Shelbyville Central's soccer season ended as it started -- with a disappointment. The Eaglettes (12-8) closed out the season with a 4-0 loss to host Siegel in opening round action of the Region 4-AAA tournament on Tuesday night. Ironically, the season got off to a bad start when junior midfielder Casey Bearden suffered a season-ending knee injury on the first night of practice...

Out of the worst tragedies come the greatest triumphs. In memory of her husband Ken Stearns, who died May 13 of a massive heart attack, Donna Stearns and her children, Matt and Sarah-Margaret, are walking in Sunday's American Heart Walk -- and promoting this annual Bedford County fund-raiser with unbridled emotion...