Stories from Wednesday, March 12, 2008

State Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) gained the approval of the state Senate this week for legislation he sponsored to give retired teachers more power on the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) Board of Trustees. The bill designates the retired teacher member as a voting member of the board. Currently, there is a retired teacher who serves on the Board, but that position is not a voting member...

Western Park Pleasure classes have been restored to the schedule at the 2008 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration following discussions with exhibitors and trainers. After researching the past six years and seeing a dramatic decline in entries in that division, a total of four Western Park Pleasure classes were deleted from the initial 2008 class schedule. ...

Bell Buckle moved closer Tuesday to having law enforcement on their streets with the hiring of a part time police officer. The board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to hire LaVergne police officer Chris Spradling on a part time basis. The officer will work only 10 hours a week, with his main duty to watch for speeders...

The decision on locating the Air Force's proposed Common Battlefield Airman Training Facility (CBAT), for which Arnold Air Force Base is in the running, has been delayed until fall, according to Air Force officials. Local officials have also been awaiting the release of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project, but that also has been delayed...

Bedford County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday night calling on Tennessee Valley Authority to "limit the flow of water from Normandy Lake with emphasis on human consumption." The original document read "...emphasis on human consumption rather than aquatic life," but Doug Murphy of the Shelbyville-based Tennessee Duck River Agency told commissioners that the two are not necessarily at odds, and that it might be counterproductive to antagonize environmental groups...

Funeral services for Sarah Jeffress, 82, of Unionville, who died Monday at Bedford County Medical Center, will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Feldhaus Memorial Chapel with the Rev. Eddie Reed and the Rev. Dan Reed officiating. Burial will follow at Unionville Cemetery....

Webb ran into a brick wall in their first softball game of the season. Boyd Christian's Cassie Wanamaker no-hit the Lady Feet in a 5-0 victory in McMinnville on Tuesday. The right-hander struck out nine and walked four in five innings pitched. "We were not able to hit the ball," Webb coach James Garcia said. ...

Liberty Middle lost a heartbreaker 8-7 to Highland Rim on Tuesday night despite pitchers Nolan Sanders and Josh Nave combining for 10 strikeouts. Highland Rim scored the first three runs before the Pats put together a three-run rally of their own on base hits by Nave, Ross Taylor and a two-run single by Rhett Butler in the second inning...

I got three different books from family members for Christmas -- all of them about real people, all of them highly recommended, but about as different as three books can be. I'll tell you about all three, but the third one is the one I really want to share today...

A valiant comeback came up just a little short for Harris Middle's softball team in their first ever home game Tuesday afternoon at H.V. Griffin Park. The Eaglettes fell 4-3 to Cornersville Middle. Trailing 3-0, Harris pushed across a pair of runs in the fourth and added another in the fifth...

Bennie "Jackie" Sheppard, 73, of Lewisburg died Monday at NCH Merihil. Funeral services were scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday at Bills McGaugh Funeral Home in Lewisburg. Burial will follow in Sunset Park with the Rev. Joe Hudson officiating. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM ...

The Community Viqueens opened the season on the road at Murfreesboro against Middle Tennessee Christian, winning 5-1 in first-year coach Libby Frost's debut. Freshman Brittany Haynes was outstanding in her first varsity start, pitching a complete game with seven strikeouts while allowing only three Lady Cougar hits and two walks...

Playing on the road against at Tullahoma in a huge District 8-AAA matchup for your opening game of the season is asking a lot. Errors proved costly for Shelbyville Central's Golden Eaglettes in a 7-1 loss to the Lady Wildcats on Tuesday evening. The Eaglettes made six errors in the field while Tullahoma banged out nine hits, including a home run by catcher Erica Duke...

It's always nice to start the season out with a win. A shutout's even better. Shelbyville Central got both with a 3-0 win over visiting Siegel on Tuesday night. "We wanted for sure to be 1-0 after tonight and we talked at practice this week about being 1-0 versus 0-1 and we were able to accomplish that," Shelbyville coach Neal Gordon said...

Sometimes, you tip your hat and move on. Following Tuesday's season-opener, the Shelbyville Golden Eagles have no choice in the matter. Columbia's Will Howard threw a no-hitter on the mound and crushed a two-run homer at the plate, leading the host Lions to a 4-0 District 8-AAA victory over the Eagles...

Shelbyville's boys varsity tennis team downed Lincoln County 7-0 Tuesday. John Dawson of the Eagles roared back from a 5-1 deficit to claim a 9-7 win over Jon Mills. The Falcons return only one player from last season's district runners-up. Boys Singles...

LYNCHBURG --It looked like it was going to be one of those games that just slipped away. Cascade committed a pair of errors in the first inning and gave Moore County two runs that stood up from start to finish -- almost. Trailing 2-1 with one down in the top of the seventh and the bottom of the order coming up, it looked like it was about time to fold up the blankets and chairs...