Stories from Wednesday, January 6, 2010

MURFREESBORO -- Chris Brandon scored a career-high 34 points to lead Middle Tennessee Christian to a 59-46 District 9-A win over the Community Vikings on Tuesday evening. The loss moved the Vikings (2-11, 2-3 9-A) into the lower tier of the district standings as the postseason tournament approaches...

The Webb boys continue to pour points in with relative ease as they defeated Zion Christian Academy 80-57 in Columbia on Tuesday. Luke Baum did the most damage for the Feet by netting 34 points. Hunter Foutch followed with a more-than-respectful 21. Cham Cham Quao added 10...

Nine unanswered points late in the third quarter helped Forrest escape Cascade with a 59-52 District 9-A win on Tuesday night. The Lady Rockets (12-4, 4-0 9-A) led from start to finish but saw the young Lady Champions (10-4, 3-2) scratch and claw to within a single point on three occasions...

My boys were late to school Monday morning and it was all my fault. We were already running behind schedule -- there's nothing like two weeks of not having to get them up, dressed, fed and loaded in the van to make you forget how it's done on time. As we huddled in the 11-degree morning air, I froze. Figuratively as well as literally. Despite the bright, seemingly cloudless blue sky, despite the sunlight gilding everything it touched, it was snowing...

The boys teams of Cascade and Forrest engaged in yet another back-and-forth battle Tuesday night before it was the home standing Champions who took control in the final quarter and prevailed 42-34. The teams were knotted at 25-all after three quarters...

Recently, the group with which I take my foreign mission trips, and for which I'm a board member, wanted to make some changes to its Web site. It's not that the old site wasn't attractive and professional looking -- it was. But the executive director of the group was too dependent on others to make changes to the site. The site's designer had done a good job, as a favor to the ministry, but understandably couldn't drop his paid business every time the ministry needed to make some minor change...

MURFREESBORO -- It was a script that the Community Viqueens and Middle Tennessee Christian's Lady Cougars have seen before as they hooked up Tuesday in yet another thriller that was decided in the closing seconds -- and once again was influenced heavily from the free-throw line...

A slow start proved to be the difference in host Shelbyville Central's 60-50 loss to talented Siegel on Tuesday night. The Eagles (6-7) were outscored 19-10 in the first quarter then played even with the Stars for the most part over the next three quarters...

A Shelbyville woman told police she was forced to drive into a ditch to miss a train pulled across Railroad Avenue after dark without warning lights Monday, city police said. Train cars were being moved into Sanford Corp. by Bedford Railroad Authority, a representative at the scene told police. The representative said he was on one side of the tracks acting as a spotter but no one was on the other side of the train...

Sentencing in federal court for a local bank branch manager has been reset for the first of next month. An order signed on Tuesday by United States District Judge Harry S. Mattice moved the sentencing hearing for Ronald Frank Bell of Shelbyville to Monday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m...

Bedford County Planning Commission recommended Tuesday night that the county adopt the 2009 edition of the International Building Codes but exempt itself from the portion of the code requiring fire sprinklers for one-family and two-family homes. The final decision will have to be made by Bedford County Board of Commissioners...

CROSS (Community Religious Outreach Social Services), the local homeless shelter which opened in December 2008, reports an uptick in clients due to this week's bitterly-cold weather, according to Carl Bailey, the organization's founder. "We are filling daily," he said. "And we're preparing for even more." The current shelter has a licensed capacity of 28; Bailey said on Tuesday he wasn't certain what that day's occupancy was but that the number changed from day to day...

Shelbyville's city council will soon begin the process of selecting a new city manager, focusing more on local folks rather than applicants from outside the area. With the deadline for the applications now past, a total of 33 have been received. According to city recorder Betty Lamb, 16 were from within Bedford County and another 17 applications were received from out of state...

Shelbyville Central fell behind early and couldn't bounce back in a 66-41 loss to visiting Siegel in a non-district matchup Tuesday night. Playing without senior guard Janie Graves, who was ill, the Eaglettes needed their leading scorer's 16 points per game and then some as points were hard to come by...

Mary Curtis Doney, 84, of Decherd, formerly of Shelbyville, died Tuesday. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Moore-Cortner Chapel, Winchester, with the Rev. Kevin Marston and the Rev, Joe Nunley officiating. Graveside services will follow at 4 p.m. at Salem Cemetery in Liberty. Visitation will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday.

Erskine Grant, 85, of Shelbyville died Tuesday at Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Tullahoma Funeral Home with the Rev. Randall Herman officiating. Burial will follow at Holt Cemetery in Franklin County. Visitation will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

Sarah Catherine Boyce Hitt, 85, of Normandy died Wednesday at Harton Regional Medical Center in Tullahoma. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Feldhaus Memorial Chapel with the Rev. Monnie Caine officiating. Burial will follow at Leming Cemetery in Normandy. Visitation will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday.