Stories from Sunday, July 5, 2009

In many ways, the celebration of the Fourth of July is more than just getting together a bunch of people to admire the latest in pyrotechnics. In small towns, Independence Day exemplifies America at its best, from community spirit and volunteerism to entrepreneurship and the pursuit of happiness...

Gov. Phil Bredesen issued a writ of election Thursday to fill the vacancy in the 62nd District State House of Representatives seat created by the resignation this week of State Rep. Curt Cobb of Shelbyville. Party primaries for the seat will be held on Aug. 27, with the general election to be Oct. 13. Three potential candidates said Thursday they were considering this weekend whether to run, and one of them made that a definite "yes" by Saturday morning...

Aug. 21 will be the day that a former teacher and baseball coach caught up in an Internet sex sting will either make a plea or have his case set for trial. Joshua Daniel Smith, of Eastman Street, Murfreesboro, appeared before Judge Lee Russell Thursday and was told that the August date will be the last time he will have any say in the disposition of his case...

Coach Beth Allen has a bunch of babies, teenyboppers and dinosaurs under her watch this summer. Since September, Allen has been coaching 21 women, all at least 50 years old, twice a week in preparation for the state Senior Olympic finals to be held July 17-23 in Franklin...

A man Shelbyville police wanted to question is no longer a "person of interest" in the investigation of the shooting death of a man discovered Monday. Demario Jaquece Edwards, 21, of Shelbyville was taken into custody on a failure to appear warrant out of Bedford County, according to Detective Sgt. Brian Crews of the Shelbyville Police Department...

To the Editor: I am writing in response to the letter in Sunday's paper regarding the EBT/food stamps. I would gladly stop using my EBT/food stamps card, if I could, by some miracle, get myself gainfully employed. Using food stamps is not all peaches and cream...

The problem with summer is fertilizer. Between that, the heat, the rain and the sunshine, it makes things grow way too much, way too fast. Now that's a good thing if you're raising corn, but when you're raising children, it's a pain in the patootie. ...

Lately, a lot of people have asked me if we know whether the baby I'm carrying is a boy or a girl. I don't know yet, but I will be finding out in the next few weeks. Research suggests we'll have another girl, because we've had two already, our 6-year-old and our baby that was stillborn. Studies show that people who have two babies of one gender are 85 percent more likely to have another baby of that same gender...

Ann Haney of Shelbyville used to spend $260 at the grocery store each week to feed her family of eight, but since attending a couponing workshop in Chattanooga, that bill has dropped to $60. "Sixty dollars feeds six children, ranging in age from five to 21, and also my husband and myself," she said. "We've cut our bill by 2/3."...

One of the questions I ask my interviewee each week in Sunday Conversation is, "What do you like best about Bedford County and, if you could change one thing, what would it be?" (Sunday Conversation appears on 1B every Sunday. Contact me if you'd like to nominate a person for this fun Q&A.)...

Homemade pesto, ripe and juicy tomatoes and a variety of cheeses ... a summer snack with those ingredients just doesn't get much better. "Pan Del Campo," known as the original cowboy or camp flatbread, features a cilantro-nut pesto, tomatoes, Parmigiano Reggiano, goat, and Monterey Jack cheeses; all atop a warm and crispy crust...