Stories from Friday, January 30, 2009

It wasn't the way they wanted to close out the regular season. Harris Middle's Eaglettes fell 31-16 to visiting Franklin County South in a Central Tennessee Conference matchup. Despite the loss, the Eaglettes (15-4, 12-2 CTC) still won the regular season conference title and will be the top seed in the tournament starting Monday at Coffee County Middle School...

William Douglas Bowling, 75, of Unionville, died Thursday at his home. Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Shackelford Funeral Home in Waynesboro with Bryan Nerren officiating. Burial will follow at Clifton City Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Gowen-Smith Chapel in Shelbyville and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Shackelford Funeral Home.

Have you missed me? Well, I've missed you, but I haven't missed many meals in the past three weeks since I wrote my last Gut Check. I haven't given up, though, I've just been really busy here at work with other things. Our news and production departments recently went through a computer upgrade (some would still call it a downgrade, I think!) and we have had to learn a lot...

The county's jobless rate leaped nearly a full percentage point to 7.6 percent in December, according to preliminary figures released Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The rate jumped 0.8 percent from the revised numbers posted for November that put Bedford County's unemployment rate at 6.8 percent...

The latest in an ongoing series of daylight home burglaries occurred Wednesday, according to Shelbyville police. A large amount of jewelry and a laptop computer were stolen from a residence on Trinity Road in the Green Hills area of northwest Shelbyville, police said...

A Tullahoma man accused of a 2002 rape and kidnapping in Bedford County was granted a continuance and will appear in court next month. James Lynne Stewart, 51, of South Anderson Street, Tullahoma, is facing charges of aggravated rape, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault and theft over $500...

Nashville law enforcement apprehended the alleged gunman who terrorized three children in a Shelbyville home invasion last week. Shelbyville Detective Brian Crews said Thursday that Wilson Palacio, 22, of Smyrna, was arrested by a Nashville SWAT team after an anonymous tip led authorities to the suspect...

A man standing trial Thursday on sexually related charges apparently decided he didn't like the outcome and attempted to make a run for it. According to Assistant District Attorney Mike Randles, Derek Alton Badger, 25, of El Bethel Road was found guilty Thursday of aggravated sexual battery. The victim was a 4-year-old girl...

A spotted saddle horse that suffered burns on 60 percent of her body has returned to Sewanee after receiving skin grafts and hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The horse, Pattycake, was tucked away in her stall at Dorothy and Francis Thorpe's farm in Sewanee, when a fire blazed through the barn last August. The 5-year-old mare suffered life-threatening third degree burns...

Funeral services for Clyde Daniel Britton, 89, of Shelbyville, who died Wednesday at Glen Oaks Convalescent Center, will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Scott Chapel United Methodist Church. The Rev. Robin Kimbrough will officiate and burial will follow in Mt. Ararat Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be noon until service time at the church. Scales & Sons Funeral Home, Murfreesboro, is in charge of arrangements.