Stories from Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Gracie Lee Lynch Allen, 87, of Shelbyville died Monday at Heritage Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Lawrence Funeral Home, Chapel Hill, with Kenneth Smith officiating. Burial will follow at Wheeler Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Packaging and delivery times for this year's Linda Hayes Nursing Home Gift Drive have been announced and there is still a little time left to get those presents in. The goal of the fourth annual drive is to make sure that all 310 nursing home residents in Bedford County are not forgotten during the Christmas season...

Republican State Sen. Jim Tracy of Shelbyville filed papers on Monday to seek the Sixth District U.S. House seat, on the same day that incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon revealed he will not seek re-election. "I am definitely running," Tracy told the Times-Gazette Monday afternoon...

As of Sept. 30, Bedford County had received nearly $28.4 million in federal stimulus funds, according to figures compiled by the investigative journalism web site ProPublica. ProPublica's figures don't count nearly $3.2 million in stimulus funds given to the local school system, as reported by the official recovery.gov web site...

A grant from the U.S. Department of Education will enable elementary school libraries in Bedford County to remain open from 3-6 p.m. two days a week, giving children and their parents or other family members a place to read, use computers, and do research...

Items were taken from two Shelbyville residences last week, police report. n Two gold rings were stolen from a home on Warners Bridge Road between last Sunday and Tuesday. Visitors to the home are suspected, police were told. n A PlayStation 3 was stolen from an unlocked Quarry Street home Thursday...

Harris Middle jumped out to an early lead then coasted to a 56-36 win over E.A. Cox Middle School Monday night. The Eagles (7-2) have now won six games in a row. Harris posted a 17-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, posted a 36-21 advantage at intermission and was up 48-25 after three periods...

Cascade Middle's boys took control early and hammered host Forrest Middle 49-26 on Monday night. It was the fourth game in Chapel Hill within six days for the Orange and Black. The Champions (10-1) scorched ahead 14-3 in the opening quarter before carrying a 30-7 lead into the half...

The Tennessee Titan defense only allowed 240 yards and held the NFL's second leading rusher Steven Jackson to only 47 yards on 19 carries and added five interceptions in a 47-7 win over the St. Louis Rams Sunday afternoon. Rams rookie quarterback Keith Null got his first start of his career and Tennessee welcomed him to the NFL in a way he soon won't forget...

CHAPEL HILL -- Cascade Middle's Lady Champions gave a valiant effort, but joined the rest of the World Tournament field in being overpowered by impressive Middle Tennessee Christian Middle, falling 49-11 in the championship game Saturday evening. The Lady Champions (8-2) gave a gritty defensive effort early but were worn down by a fierce offensive onslaught by the Rutherford County kids, the former 10-under AAU national champions...

CHAPEL HILL -- Drama and physical play has become the norm between Cascade and Community and Saturday's middle school game was no exception as the two teams squared off in the World Tournament consolation game. It may have been for third place but the intensity level was championship caliber as the teams exchanged the lead on 10 occasions before the Champions pulled out a 32-29 victory decided in the closing minute...

Miles Davis poured in 12 points, dished out 12 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds to complete a triple-double and lead Webb to a 54-42 win over visiting Franklin Classical on Saturday. The Feet (5-3) trailed 12-8 after a quarter but outscored their foes 23-4 in the second stanza to take complete control. They extended their lead to 44-25 before the start of the fourth...