Stories from Tuesday, May 5, 2009

High waters, closed roads and schools, not to mention a collapsing street, were just some of the difficulties that a weekend of wet weather brought to Bedford County. The Duck River was more than a half a foot above its flood stage of 25 feet as of Monday afternoon, at which time TVA officials had expected the waterway to crest...

With schools closed due to rain and an uncertain forecast for the evening, the Shelbyville Central girls tennis team took to the hard courts to battle Coffee County in the District 8-AAA championship at H.V. Griffin Park on Monday. Playing in their third consecutive final, Eaglette juniors Jenna Crouse, Mallory Hutton and Brianne Jones led their team to a 4-0 victory. Freshman Sarah King chipped in on the sweep of the Raiders, while sophomore Kasondra Johnson was locked in a 5-all tie...

LEWISBURG -- A pair of goals in the first 7 minutes provided Marshall County with enough momentum to propel them to a 3-1 win over Cascade in the District 11-A/AA tournament in soggy conditions Monday. Christian Ibarra used an assist from Mariano Vega to put the Tigers (7-2-2) ahead barely 3 minutes in. Ryan Longchamps doubled their advantage shortly thereafter with an assist from Ibarra...

FAYETTEVILLE -- Any time you take a 3-0 lead into the final inning you have to like your chances. That wasn't the case for top-seed Shelbyville Central as Lawrence County scored six runs in the top of the seventh in a come-from-behind 6-3 victory over the Golden Eagles in second round action of the District 8-AAA tournament Monday night...

Cody Pierce's hustle up the first-base line forced a high throw and prevented the third out from taking place, which allowed Austin Thurber to come home with the game-winning run in the top of the seventh to give Community a thrilling 1-0 victory over Forrest in the District 9-A tournament on Monday...

The heavy rains mean more than washed out roads and closed schools to area farmers. After years of drought, the floods present yet another challenge to a productive season. "Last summer, they'd have been praying for a rain like this," said John Teague, extension agent...

Bedford County School Superintendent Ed Gray has announced the principals for new or re-configured schools for the 2009-2010 school year. Tim Harwell, who is currently principal at Liberty School, has been named principal of Thomas Elementary School, which will serve starting this fall as a magnet school for high-achieving students in kindergarten through fifth grade...

The Bedford County fair is offering a hunka-hunka burning fun this year. "We're going to do Elvis night on the Thursday and have an Elvis impersonator, Chuck Baril," said Judy Gambill, president of the fair board. "We're going to ask people to dress up in clothes for the Elvis era and we'll have a few contests."...