Stories from Sunday, November 9, 2008

Earlier this week, Ann Nixon Cooper was thrust into the spotlight when she was mentioned in Barack Obama's acceptance speech. 106 years ago, she was born in Shelbyville. Ann didn't stay in Shelbyville long. While she was still in school, her mother died and she and her six siblings were split up between relatives and she was sent to Nashville to be raised by her aunt. ...

Voices were raised by Shelbyville city council members and accusations flew during a discussion Thursday night over picking a replacement for the late Fred Harrison. Harrison died Oct. 31 after a long illness. The council must now choose someone to fill his seat. However, one councilman made a suggestion that upset other members...

Months and years of preparation all boiled down to Nov. 1, but David Lucich had all the confidence in the world for what 60 local high school students were about to take on. "I felt the kids were peaking just at the right time," said Lucich, director of the Cascade High School band...

Beginning early Friday morning, the Cascade football bleachers were already decorated with stadium seats, plastic scraps and garbage bags which marked the seating territory for devoted fans who wanted to make sure they had a spot saved for Friday night's game against Columbia Academy...

After fumbling the opening kickoff and putting the ball on the soggy turf yet again on their first drive, fourth-ranked Cascade looked like they could be on the losing end of a potential upset in the first round of the TSSAA state playoffs. Columbia Academy made the Champions pay for their first miscue as quarterback Alex Rector found Matthew Williams in the back of the end zone for a 22-yard scoring strike on fourth-and-five...

Sitting in front of the Wartrace railroad crossing for 10, 15, 30 or 45 minutes can be irritating, frustrating, costly-- and deadly. That was the message Wartrace citizens tried to get across to CSX Transportation Thursday morning in a special meeting at the town's community center. State Sen. Jim Tracy, State Rep. Curt Cobb and Sean Gilliland, a representative from U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon's office, attended along with Wartrace elected officials, area first responders and concerned citizens...