Stories from Thursday, March 26, 2009

To the editor: My name is Kati Marcotte and I am a freshman at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. MTSU is currently proposing many crucial budget cuts that will affect all faculty, staff, current and perspective students. MTSU is considering the elimination of several important majors such as Human Services, Philosophy, Physics, and even some agricultural programs...

Ruth C. Murray, of Nashville, mother of Georgina Vaughn-Lanier, of Shelbyville, died March 19. Visitation with the family will be held Saturday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. with funeral to follow at Old Palestine M.B. Church, 60 Old Palestine Road, Taylorsville, Miss...

Merle Kenneth Bargers, 70, of Ashland, Neb., passed away Thursday, March 19 at Lakeside Hospital in Omaha. A private family funeral service will be held at a later date. Marcy Mortuary, of Ashland, was in charge of arrangements.

Shelbyville resident Kerry Blanton was inducted into Martin Methodist College's Sports Hall of Fame in Pulaski recently. During his two years at Martin in 1976-77 and 1977-78, Blanton captured state and region golf titles and finished 28th out of 329 golfers at the 1978 National Junior College Athletic Association championship...

Speeding and the odor of alcohol led to the arrest of a Rockvale man on drug charges early Tuesday, according to Shelbyville police. Cody Elvis McKenzie, 18, was charged after marijuana and seeds were found in a pants pocket, a set of digital scales with marijuana residue on them was discovered in his vehicle and a "roach" was recovered in an ashtray, police said...

Former Bedford County resident Phil Baker, now of Arab, Ala., has recently completed a book called "Lessons in the Rearview Mirror," a collection of his past writings. "They are broken into topical categories," he said. "They are stories I recall while I was growing up. As an adult, I found Biblical principles in them that I didn't recognize at the time."...

The U.S. Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Center in Coffee and Franklin counties will receive more than $7.7 million in federal stimulus money for improvements. The funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and will be used to inspect bridges, for the repair, improvement, and paving of several roads and parking lots, and upgrades to Wattendorf Highway...

The National Weather Service in Nashville issued a flood warning this morning for the Garrison Fork near Wartrace, but as of 8 a.m. only two roads were closed and Bedford County Highway Department expected the water levels to go down quickly once this morning's rain ended...

A preliminary hearing for a Tullahoma man accused of rape and kidnapping has been set for late May. James Lynne Stewart, 51, of South Anderson Street, Tullahoma, will appear on May 29 for the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is to determine if there is sufficient evidence for a judge to bound the case over to a grand jury...

The play opening Friday night at The Fly isn't what you'd expect. "People like it when we do comedies," said David Langborn, the director -- and star -- of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," a drama based in an insane asylum. Based on Ken Keasey's novel, the play, which premiered with Kirk Douglas, then featured Jack Nicholson in the movie role, is the story of McMurphy, a man trying to dodge military prison by claiming to be insane. ...

A Murfreesboro man charged with breaking into a Unionville residence while a teen girl was home sick told a judge he is trying to hire an attorney to take his case. Larry Randall Henry II, of Crater Road, Murfreesboro, made his first appearance in Bedford County General Sessions court before Judge Charles Rich and will appear again on April 29...

Rescue workers continued today searching the banks of rain-swollen Duck River, off Sanders Lane in western Bedford County, for a missing man last seen before Wednesday night's rains. Epps Matthews, whose 55th birthday is today, was last seen by family members about 6 p.m. Wednesday, said Detective Sgt. Brian Farris, of the Bedford County Sheriff's Department....