Stories from Monday, June 30, 2008

A mental evaluation has been ordered for a man accused of killing one woman and kidnapping and raping another. Donald Ray Sachs is charged with criminal homicide in the death of 52-year-old Joyce Mattis of Murfreesboro. Her decomposed remains were found June 4 in a wooded area off Cannon Road...

When most people think of moving to the country onto their own little mini-farm, they mean a little farm, perhaps 5 to 10 acres. Kim and Rob Rhodes did that -- a few comfortable acres on Highway 130, headed toward Petersburg. But for them, "Mini" has a whole other connotation...

The name is Camp Friends -- and, for the past week at Shelbyville Recreation Center, a group of autistic children have been busy making new ones. Leta Frame couldn't be happier. Her 12-year-old son, Levi, who attends Cascade School, is autistic, and he was obviously having a good time with his newly found companions...

Dee Butler, of Murfreesboro, has announced her candidacy for the 16th District State Senate seat in the Aug. 7 Democratic primary. Butler, a native of Rutherford County, was raised on a family farm designated as a "Century Farm" by the state for 100 years of family operation. She attended Murfreesboro city and Rutherford County schools and is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where she majored in political science...

If there's a tournament teams don't want to lose as they run through their summer travel ball schedule, it's the one they host. Nobody wants to run a concession stand, rake the field and chalk the baseline for a championship game without the home team involved...

Shelbyville's attempt at running their win streak to three came up short on Sunday as the Sox fell 15-2 to the Nashville Brewers at Hillsboro High School. The Brewers broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice fly to center field. With two outs, an error on the infield led to three unearned runs against Shelbyville starting pitcher Tyler Bowman...