Stories from Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A friend of mine has my dream job. She reads romance novels all day, then gets to tell the authors what's wrong with them. The novels, I mean, not the authors. Or maybe the authors, too, who knows? And she gets paid for this! It's not that I don't love my current job, I do -- but think how nice it would be if all those hours I "waste" sitting by the pool with the latest Nora Roberts actually paid off? Considering that I am a voracious reader, I could soon be reading Nora by the pool in Cannes or Rio or Tuscany .... ...

Funeral services for Clara Stewart Jones, 90, of Shelbyville, who died Tuesday at her home after an extended illness, will be 2 p.m. Thursday at Hillcrest Funeral Home. Keith Camp will officiate and burial will follow in Willow Mount Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be 5-9 p.m. today...

A registered sex offender who a Bedford County detective has been searching for since December is being held under a bond of more than three quarters of a million dollars after being accused of a number of sexual crimes, including rape of a child. David Wayne Phillips, 43, of Lower Halls Mill Road, has been charged with rape of a child, two counts of aggravated sexual battery and four violations of the sex offender registry...

A preliminary hearing has been set for a former teacher and baseball coach who faces charges related to an Internet sex sting. Joshua Daniel Smith, of Eastman Street, Murfreesboro, will appear in court on May 29 for the hearing, when a judge will decide whether to bound him over to the Bedford County grand jury...

A Lewisburg man in the U.S. Navy was in the thick of it when the Navy rescued a cargo ship captain from Somali pirates two weeks ago. Jacob Andrew Watkins, 20, a petty officer 3rd Class on the USS Bainbridge, the first Navy ship to reach the scene, guarded a pirate captured during the conflict on the high seas about 300 miles off the Somali coast...

Webb Middle defeated Cascade Middle 1-0 in Tuesday's quarterfinals of their conference tournament in Wartrace. The match was a defensive struggle throughout until Webb's Orson Sinclair sneaked a ball into the corner of the net with only 15:10 left, thanks to a spectacular assist from Houston Jones...

Webb ran out to a 3-0 advantage over host University School of Nashville and returned home with a 4-2 victory Tuesday. "The back line played absolutely awesome today," Webb coach Adrian Anderson said. "We took care of the ball out of the air and put it back up the field...

The arrest of a man who allegedly operated a large methamphetamine lab in his home has likely made a major slash in distribution of the substance in Bedford County, investigators say. "This could have a huge impact," said Tim Miller, assistant director of the 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force, Tuesday night following the arrest of Ronald Nix, 30, of T.E. Adams Road...

Cascade closed out their regular season with a bang Tuesday with a 7-6 win over host Ezell-Harding Christian in 10 innings. The Champions, ranked No. 1 in Class A and the only small school to make it into the top 10 in the overall state rankings according to the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association, finished up with a record of 28-1-1...

In a softball matchup between county schools, Harris Middle's Eaglettes defeated visiting Cascade's Lady Champions 14-2 Tuesday evening. The Eaglettes (5-5) banged out 12 hits, led by Kailey Hornberger's triple and Tiana Sanders' double. Addison Galbreath, Jessica Daniel and Morgan Ward each collected a pair of singles...

Shelbyville Central's boys tennis team outlasted host Tullahoma 4-3 in District 8-AAA team tournament action Tuesday. Jordan Phelps and Jeffrey Gaines won singles matches to help keep them in a tie at 2-all with the second-seeded Wildcats in the early going...

Spring brings high school plays out in droves -- and audiences come out in droves to see them -- and Victory Baptist Academy is no exception. It won't be surprising to most people that, rather than the millionth rendition of "Guys and Dolls" or "Oklahoma," the private Christian school affiliated with Victory Baptist Church is doing a Bible-based play. What may surprise people is how that came about...

When one thinks about hobbies, one of the last things that likely comes to mind is plowing through brush, cutting through sharp limbs and picking up trash. For Julia Minatra, however, her passion has led her to a mystical land that's filled -- overwhelmed -- with just that. Brush, twigs, branches, leaves and who knows what else have taken over a small, yet ancient, cemetery on Shelbyville Mills Road...

A suspect who was "captured" on video allegedly burglarizing a Bedford County home last week was taken into custody Tuesday in Murfreesboro, according to the Bedford County Sheriff's Department. Joe D. Bowen, 30, was arrested at his residence after refusing to answer the door as officers waited outside, BCSD Capt. Tony Barrett said...

Free is good, most of the time. In an age when money is tight, open source, advertiser-supported or other types of free software can be a lifesaver. Many are surprisingly sophisticated and feature-rich, and (especially the open-source ones) have active user forums where you can ask questions and troubleshoot problems...

Wanda Vaughn Giles, 65, of Tullahoma, died Wednesday at her home. Funeral services will be held at noon Thursday at Tullahoma Funeral Home with Jack Hice officiating. Burial will follow at New Reddens Cemetery near Normandy. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Shelbyville Central closed out the regular season with an 8-3 loss to visiting Oakland on Tuesday afternoon. The Eaglettes (10-18) collected nine hits but couldn't put them together. Freshman Alyssa Moore ripped a two-run double and added a pair of singles, while Shelby Lamb and Lauren Warren each added two singles...

Bedford County court officials are interested in purchasing the Regions Bank building on the square and converting it into courtrooms and court offices, according to discussion at Tuesday night's meeting of Bedford County Financial Management Committee...

There's a reason why the girls in blue and white have Class A state championship rings. Forrest took full advantage of every defensive miscue and mental mistake by Cascade to put a damper on Senior Day with a run-ruled 11-1 win Tuesday. "They're peaking at the right time; they're playing good softball right now," Lady Champion coach Ralph Edwards said of the Chapel Hill girls. "They're putting the ball in play and making teams make plays...