Stories from Thursday, January 3, 2008

The honors keep rolling in for a former Shelbyville Central basketball standout. Former Golden Eagle and current Mississippi State sophomore guard Barry Stewart has been named the SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Week. The announcement was made Monday by the league office...

Readers of the Shelbyville Times-Gazette web site, in a non-scientific poll, picked the drought, and the water use restrictions which it creates, as the top local news story of 2007. Between Christmas and New Year's, the Times-Gazette revealed the top 10 stories as selected by a poll of 10 staff members. ...

Two stockyards in Tennessee burned this week and officials say the fires will hurt their areas' farm economies. Other stockyards, however, may benefit because of the fires. "Whenever you lose a facility like that, you lose some of your competition," said Rick Skillington, director of Marshall County Agricultural Extension Service. "When farmers carry their livestock to market, they like the competition."...

Everyone at Shelbyville Central High School has been living in and around a construction site for the first part of the 2007-2008 school year as the school undergoes a renovation and expansion. Pictures for the football team and the yearbook capitalized on the construction zone for "photo ops," with team members standing on piles of dirt with heavy equipment in the background, and students wearing SCHS jerseys and hard hats. This has been a memorable year for the student body at SCHS...

Jan. 1 not only brought us a new year, but new laws as well for the citizens of Tennessee. A new law cracks down on the hiring of illegal immigrants in Tennessee. House Bill 729 prohibits persons from knowingly employing an illegal alien, recruiting or referring one for employment for a fee. It is punishable by business license suspension for one year after a second violation...

Several fishing poles were stolen from a mini barn at the home of Alton Thomas Jr., Cunningham Lane, during December, according to a police report released Wednesday. The following persons were arrested since Monday by the Bedford County Sheriff's Department, Shelbyville Police Department, Tennessee Highway Patrol or 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force and processed through Bedford County Jail. They are only charged; guilt or innocence will be determined by the courts...

Bobby Smith, 74, of Lynchburg died Tuesday at his home. Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Thursday at Lynchburg Funeral Home with Jimmy Jean officiating. Burial will follow at Mt. Herman Cemetery.

Virginia "Granny Bart" Dalton, 86, of Shelbyville, died Wednesday at Bedford County Medical Center. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Saturday at Bible Presbyterian Church, where she was a member, with the Rev. Kenneth Smith officating. Burial will follow at Willow Mount Cemetery...

Funeral services for Bobby Carter Arnold, 73, who died Tuesday at Bedford County Medical Center, will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Gowen-Smith Chapel. Jimmy Gray and Arnold King will officiate and burial will follow in Willow Mount Cemetery....