Stories from Friday, August 10, 2007

As the local baseball season comes to a close and fall sports take front and center, three local men recently had the fortunate opportunity to take a step back in time to their baseball playing days. Three members of the Shelbyville Junior American Legion Post 23 team, which finished runner up in the state tournament in Gallatin a few weeks ago, had a father or grandfather who played in a Legion state tournament...

"We don't know where our donors have gone," said Linda Decker. Decker works with the blood services department of the American Red Cross's Tennessee Valley Region. Over the past year, Shelbyville's support of American Red Cross blood drives has plummeted from 50 units of blood each month to fewer than 30. Some months, as few as 15 units have been collected...

Reita Vaughn is back where she started her education more than 40 years ago, only this time she's Southside Primary School's new principal. "It doesn't happen very often that you get to go back to where you once started," Vaughn said. "It seemed like an impossibility that I would come back to where it all began."...

Food is on the way to 16 horses rescued on a Lewisburg farm earlier this week thanks to the efforts of the Walking Horse Trainers' Association (WHTA). The horses, whose breeding is not known, were moved by the members of a local rescue shelter to Gallatin's Volunteer Equine Advocates...

The county's Solid Waste Authority will be looking into the idea of opening a location where plastic could be dropped off to be recycled. Chairman Bobby Vannatta asked recycling coordinator Gay Ervin and Stanley Smotherman contact the Coffee County Recycling Center to see how it is done...

With the air conditioners steadily humming as the area bakes under a stifling heat wave, utility companies in Bedford County are handling the power demands well, officials say. David Crowell, general manager for Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewer said Thursday that that they are able to handle the demand for the blue spark "just fine."...

Burglars targeted three Shelbyville homes within the past few days, police report. The theft was discovered Wednesday by a friend who noticed a window open. Carter and a companion returned to find a back door open, police said. An estimated $150 was taken from an outdoor soft drink machine at Food Lion, Colloredo Boulevard, overnight Tuesday...

Mamie D. Smith, 69, of Shelbyville died Thursday at Bedford County Nursing Home. Funeral arrangements will be announced by Feldhaus Memorial Chapel.