Stories from Friday, November 28, 2008

Melissa Diane Landers, 47, of Shelbyville, died Wednesday at Heritage Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hillcrest Funeral Home with Danny Hale officiating. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today.

Donald Eugene 'Gene' Bogle, 71, of Shelbyville, died Wednesday evening at Harton Regional Medical Center in Tullahoma after an extended illness. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Doak-Howell Funeral Home with Kevin Minchey officiating. Burial, with military honors, will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. today.

Are you sick of turkey yet? I'm betting that I am, but I wrote this column early this week because of the holidays, so I'm not yet sure. As of this writing, I'm getting psyched up for a trip home to Knoxville for the holiday. I have a big family -- very big. Both of my parents were only children, so I have no aunts, uncles or cousins, but I've got a ton of siblings, neices and nephews. How many? Hold on a minute while I count ... Well, maybe you better let me explain:...

The impact of recent job loss announcements has the head of the state's workforce department expecting the unemployment rate to rise while Bedford County's jobless numbers dropped by half a percent to 6.6 percent. Preliminary figures released by the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development this week showed Bedford County had an October labor force of 22,920, with 21,420 employed and 1,510 out of work...

This year's Election Day will no doubt be memorable for many people for many years to come. But for John Carney, Times-Gazette city editor, that day will serve as monumental in more ways than one. It's also the day he received the first proof of his self-published book, "Soapstone," a novel inspired by his short-term mission trips to Africa...

The Shelbyville Trap Team recently finished off its fall season with a competition at Big Springs Clay Targets in Christiana. The varsity team finished fifth out of 16 teams and the junior varsity received silver medals after a runner-up finish. "The conditions were brutal," said coach Bruce Davis, of Shelbyville. ...

Shelbyville soccer players have had great success at the collegiate level. Five players are now conference champions. Hannah Martin, a 2008 graduate from Central High, is a defender for Tennessee. She is a part of the team that won the Southeastern Conference tournament title against Georgia back on Nov. 9...

The 78-hour period from 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15, until midnight Tuesday, Nov. 18, was historic for Calsonic Arena in several ways and helped display the facility's versatility, according to Celebration officials. From tough bulls and riders, tuff trucks, people in command of our military, to saying thanks to those that make the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration the worlds' greatest horse show, Calsonic Arena played host to three special events over a four-day period...