Stories from Sunday, June 28, 2009

Skateboarding and BMX biking are two sports that sometimes carry negative connotations. Whether it's because of the way the participants dress, the fact that they take to the city streets, or because they have been viewed by some authorities as gangs of rebels, these athletes have been given a bad rap...

When the Duck River Clean-Up project first began 12 years ago, Wayne Bomar said he couldn't travel 200 feet on his river boat without seeing trash that needed to be cleaned up. On Saturday, Bomar covered a two-mile stretch of the Duck River without seeing trash...

They gather in small groups across the field at Webb School. Some sit at picnic tables, some combined quilts for softer seating, and some just flop down on the grass. They eat fried chicken or ribs, sip on sweet tea or wine -- and they wait eagerly for the play to begin...

Jobless numbers for Bedford County jumped once again to a new high of 11.5 percent for the month of May, according to preliminary figures released Thursday by the Department of Labor & Workforce Development. The latest figures show that unemployment was nearly double last year's rate of 6.1 percent. It was also an increase from April's rate of 10.7 percent...

The Halls Mill Heritage Days annual fundraiser took place Friday and Saturday at the Halls Mill Triangle Community Club. Friday night was Family Night and included a talent show, an ice cream supper, kids' games, and a lawn tractor pull. "We had quite a few people last night because it was Family Night. ...

Bedford County Board of Commissioners will hold a budget meeting Tuesday night to consider last minute amendments to the current fiscal year's budget, and -- barring any problems -- to approve a new budget for the new fiscal year which begins Wednesday...

Two Tullahoma men are facing drug charges after a recent routine traffic stop by a Bedford County deputy revealed drugs hidden in the engine of a car. Anthony Marice Potts, 32, and 29-year-old Dushawn Nathaniel Mitchell were both charged with possession of schedule VI (marijuana) for resale. Potts also faces charges of driving on a revoked license. Both are due to appear in Bedford County General Sessions court on July 7...

There has been a lot of debate in Washington D.C. this week over the Waxman-Markey bill, also known as "cap & trade" or the American Clean Energy & Security Act. The bill passed the House of Representatives on Friday, by a vote of 219-212, and now goes to the Senate for its consideration...

To the editor: I read an article written by Dan Balz of the Washington Post about the downfall and total demise of the entire Republican Party as a result of the infidelity and illicit affair of S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford after he made public the sordid details of his indiscretion and stood before America shedding crocodile tears...

We had a story in last week's Sunday edition about how the internet is destroying family time. In a way, I can understand that -- if one kid is plugged into his MySpace account and the other one is plugged into his Xbox, it's kind of hard to gather them around the dinner table for some good, quality together time...

Every year when I was a child, my family took a vacation together. Usually, we would go visit my stepfather's family, who all lived in or around Johnson City in East Tennessee, and then head over to Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg for the rest of our trip...

As an alternative to our annual T-G summer picnic, held a weekend in June or July at a local park, the Times-Gazette celebrated Independence Day early last week by having an indoor barbecue at the office. I have been on a major hot dog kick this month, and started off lunch by eating my third hot dog of the week! I am not sure what's up with my addiction to hot dogs, but I am loving them ... ...

For lots of children, summer means sports, friends, swimming, vacations and all things fun. But not every child in Bedford County is that lucky. While the lucky ones can't get enough homemade goodies provided by a parent who's able to stay home, some children are more worried about satisfying their hunger during the summer months than they are about typical youthful concerns, such as what movie they're going to see next...

Spring may have been cooler than normal for the most part, but it certainly went out with a bang, with the misery index reaching triple digits last week. I'm just thankful I got to spend the last day of spring at a real-life castle. Just as soon as I remarked to a co-worker that we had been so lucky to have had such a cool spring, I was eating my words...