Stories from Tuesday, October 31, 2006

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Middle Tennessee pulled a sweep of the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week awards for the first time since 2001 as announced by the league office. Quarterback Clint Marks was the SBC Offensive Player of the Week, while Damon Nickson brought home the defensive award and Colby Smith earned the special teams honor...

Two women from the Ukraine who spent the summer working in Shelbyville as foreign exchange students have been reported missing. Both wear rose-shaped necklaces, according to Vickie Peacock, in whose Shelbyville home the women had been staying. Boran and Khomyok were last seen at 5:20 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, when they were dropped off at the Manchester bus station...

The Senate race between U.S. Rep. Harold Ford and former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker is so hot that European news media have sent reporters to Tennessee to cover the election. But that was just the first reason reporter Gilles Biassette of the French newspaper la Croix came to Shelbyville on Monday. He'd heard of the influx of Hispanics in Bedford County and it was recognized as part of the campaign...

A swastika has been painted on the helmet of the soldier's statue standing over Veterans Memorial Plaza on the south lawn of the Bedford County Courthouse. American Legion Commander Roy Bartlette noticed the vandalism on Monday. "I was up there, laying bricks this morning and I looked up and saw something that didn't look right, so I climbed up on the base to see if it was wet. It wasn't," Bartlette said. "I've called the sheriff about it. That's county property."...

J.L. Ragsdale, 77, of Chapel Hill died Monday in Lewisburg. Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Wednesday at Lawrence Funeral Home in Chapel Hill with Randall Harmon officiating. Burial will follow at Swanson Cemetery in Chapel Hill. Visitation will begin 4 p.m. today...

Libert Middle opened up the 2006-07 season in fine fashion with a 28-14 win over Elkton Middle on Monday in the Cornersville Booster Club Preseason Tournament. "We came out and played real slow on offense and defense," Lady Patriot coach Chad Spencer said. "We had some butterflies, but we settled down on the defensive end and played some pretty good defense for the beginning of the season."...

Community Junior High lost a 33-32 heartbreaker to Middle Tennessee Christian on Monday night in Unionville in a see-saw battle that saw the lead change hands seven times before a winner was declared in overtime. The Viqueens (1-1) jumped out to a 6-2 lead early in the first quarter only to have the Lady Cougars come back to tie the game on a Sara Sims basket as time expired...

GADA Films announced Monday that the movie "Our Very Own," a film shot in and about Shelbyville, has been sold to Miramax Films. A new trailer for the film can be seen at www.spotlight-pictures.com/ourveryowntrailer.htm. Spotlight Pictures is described by GADA Films as "our foreign sales company" and the trailer will be unveiled this week at the American Film Market...

Funeral services for Virginia Marcell Pumphrey, 82, of Murfreesboro, who died Friday at Northside Healthcare Center in Murfreesboro, will be 11 a.m. (Eastern) Wednesday at Boyle Funeral Home in Weston, W.Va. The Rev. Bob Hoover will officiate and entombment will follow in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Jane Lew, W.Va...