Stories from Sunday, August 2, 2009

SMITHVILLE -- It's that time again. Since they were unable to get a scrimmage in during spring practice, it had been quite awhile since Cascade was able to bang on a team of opposing colors, making Friday night's scrimmage at DeKalb County a welcome sight...

Retiree Joanne Thompson of Shelbyville won the top prize in the Big $500 BP Gas Up for Summer Give-Away cosponsored by BP and the Times-Gazette. Her first reaction to receiving a call from the Times-Gazette telling her that she was the winner was disbelief...

There is never a better time to reach one's goals then the present -- especially for Cory Hartbarger, 82, of Shelbyville, who leaves Monday for the National Senior Olympics. Hartbarger broke Tennessee records in the javelin throw (75'3 1/2", previously 71'9 1/2") and the shot put (33'4 3/4", previously 33' 3") on July 18. He'll compete in both events plus the discus at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., this week...

I read where Iraqi troops carried out a bloody raid on an Iranian opposition camp; the same group of Iranians that the United States had long sheltered from Iraqi violence. This raid, which coincided with Secretary of Defense Gates' visit to the country, was in essence a slap in the face of United States influence in the troubled middle east country, and one that occurred only weeks after we began our troop withdrawal...

Franklin Smith believes he had a very good reason for pulling his boys away from the Duck River Cleanup this year, a project the boys have always helped with in the past. "When I heard about this I said, 'this is more important than cleaning that river,'" said Smith, a scoutmaster for local Boy Scout Troop 370...

A final decision on the direction of Depot Street off the public square could be made during this month's Shelbyville City Council meeting. The topic arose at Tuesday's special called study session, with city manager Ed Craig pointing out that a decision to change the direction to inbound only traffic for 60 days was put on hold following a discussion after a study session, which led to a decision to "let it slide" until the next council meeting...

The Bedford County school system has received a federal literacy grant for $422,000, the largest out of three awarded schools in Tennessee, an official said Thursday. "This is a grant that is going to help us to move our elementary libraries to media centers," said Joan Gray, who coordinates technology for the school system...

A man facing sexual charges involving two children was bound over to next month's session of the Bedford County grand jury following a preliminary hearings Friday David Wayne Phillips, 43, will learn on Aug. 17 if he will be indicted on charges of rape of a child, two counts of aggravated sexual battery and four violations of the sex offender registry...

New shoes, shirts, pencils and notebooks are just a few of the items which will be tax exempt Aug. 7-9 during Tennessee's annual "Sales Tax Holiday." The sales tax holiday begins on the first Friday in August each year at 12:01 a.m., and ends at 11:59 p.m., the following Sunday...

As of a few days ago, I was 14 weeks pregnant. According to my weekly updates from an online baby center, that means my miracle baby is now anywhere between 3 and 4 inches long and weighs nearly an ounce, and is starting to grow quite rapidly. His length is catching up with his slightly larger head, and his (or her) ears have started their move to the sides of the head, and the eyes continue to get closer and closer together...

Last year, I wasn't able to get as involved with the PTO at Liberty School where my 6-year-old, Tessa, attends as I wanted to so when PTO president Dana Curtis sent an urgent plea for help via Facebook, I knew I wanted to contribute. She was going to be preparing lunch for Liberty teachers on their first day back to school July 23. She needed desserts and asked for any Liberty parents to help out...

I recently read a story about a mother who killed her 3-week-old baby in a horrifying manner and said, "The devil made her do it." The child was decapitated and mutilated. The story link was posted on a Web site I visit, and some of the comments astounded me. Many were advocating "frying her"; others thought she should be subjected to the same treatment as her baby received...

Youth isn't wasted on the young -- sleep is. I've always found it interesting that people say someone "sleeps like a baby." What? They wake up every two hours and demand attention? What they should say is "They sleep like a 10-year-old" or "They slept like a teenager."...