Stories from Sunday, March 7, 2010

Wednesday, for the 99.99 percent of you who weren't aware of it, was National What if Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs Day. This is probably my favorite of the silly "holidays" listed out there, simply because my cats don't need opposable thumbs. Brains, yes. ...

Tonight's Academy Awards telecast reminds viewers of great movies they may have seen in the past -- not only nominated movies from the past year, but great movies from throughout cinema history. And what better to accompany a movie ... or a celebration of the movies ... than popcorn?...

They were from different parts of the country and fought World War II in different parts of the world. For almost three decades, they lived only about 40 miles away from each other but they had never met. One newspaper article, one phone call and one visit later, and the two men discovered kindred spirits -- and a bond that only a few still living can share...

A wallet belonging to an employee of the Shelbyville-Bedford County Senior Citizens Center, J.G. Helton Drive, was taken from her purse at the center Thursday afternoon, Shelbyville police said. The woman told police the wallet was within a purse which had been left inside a desk. She said the wallet was in the purse at 2:21 p.m. and gone at 4 p.m...

A new five-classroom Head Start child development program will start in early fall, but in the meantime, parents can apply for an in-home Head Start program that will include one educational visit per week and two large group parent-child activities each month...

Cable TV providers have filed a lawsuit in Maryville asking Blount County Chancery Court to void business taxes levied on them by counties and cities across Tennessee, including Shelbyville. The Daily Times of Maryville reported the lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of Charter Communications and seven other communications groups...

A potential conflict of interest will require Shelbyville's city council to secure an attorney to collect damages from the city's utility for the repair of the city's underground storm water flume last year. Since last year, council members have spoken about getting reimbursement from Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewer for the cost of the collapsed underground flume following the release last July of an engineer's report that identified the cause of its failure, with fingers pointed at work done by a contractor employed by the utility.. ...

What had the makings of a thrilling come-from-behind victory turned into a head-shaking loss for Cascade Middle as it gave up four runs in the final inning and lost to Forrest Middle 5-2 on a chilly Friday night. Down a run in the bottom of the sixth, Nick Perry reached on an infield error to get things started for the Champions. ...

Community Middle opened up its home baseball schedule on a winning note by run-ruling Cornersville Middle 12-2 in six innings on Friday. Quinn Frost pitched the first five innings to get the win. The eighth-grader fanned eight, while allowing just four hits, one walk and one earned run. Tanner Simmons closed the door with a scoreless sixth...