Stories from Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Cascade coach Brandon Bassham is having on-the-job auditions to see who his top two starting pitchers will be once District 9-A competition gets underway next week. Sophomore Ryan Rippy took a giant step toward cementing one of those slots by tossing a one-hit shutout to lead the Champions to a 10-0 win over visiting White House-Heritage on a muddy, cool Tuesday...

Thomas "Larry" Pierce, 63, of Clinton died Tuesday at Oak Ridge Methodist Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 7:30 p.m. EDT Friday at First Baptist Church of Clinton. Burial, with full military honors, will follow at 2 p.m. Saturday at Old Orchard Cemetery, Petersburg. Visitation will be held from 4-7:30 p.m. Holley-Gamble Funeral Home, Clinton, is in charge of arrangements...

Jean Gardner Rhodes, 75, of Jacksonville, Fla., a former Shelbyville resident, died Sunday. A celebration of her life will be held at 2 p.m. EDT Saturday at Hardage-Giddens Edgewood Funeral Home, Jacksonville.

You know, the day started off so well ... I actually got the kids to school in time, startling the evil Gatekeeper at the elementary school driveway so much he dropped his P.E. whistle so the equally evil Keymaster at the front door didn't know we were coming and poor Buzz almost ended up late anyway. The high schooler just got dropped off at McD's to pickup his paycheck, schedule, and an underclassman giggler who was just finishing her McLatte...

Ora Charles wanted to hear "One Day At A Time" for her birthday, and so a staffer at Glen Oaks Convalescent Center rushed to a nearby computer to look up the lyrics on the Internet and print out copies so that the crowd could sing along. It was a small gesture, but a measure of how special Tuesday was; after all, your 106th birthday doesn't come along every day...

Upset-minded Harris Middle took a 3-2 lead into the final inning against Central Tennessee Conference power Coffee County before allowing a pair of runs in the top of the fifth frame to lose 4-3 Tuesday evening. A number of costly errors along the way didn't help the Eaglettes (1-1, 0-1 CTC) either...

You know it's spring when the four-wheelers get stuck in the mud down by Normandy, when the skunks come out to play in the middle of the road at night, and when the daffodils start blooming. They are blooming now and Bell Buckle is welcoming the flowers -- and the seasons -- with its annual Daffodil Day on Saturday...

A new trial date has been set for a Tullahoma man charged with a 2002 kidnapping and rape. Circuit Court Judge Robert Crigler set a trial date of May 24 for James Lynne Stewart, 52, of South Anderson Street, Tullahoma. Stewart is charged with especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated rape, aggravated assault and theft over $500 in connection with an alleged incident in 2002...

Eight people were indicted by the Bedford County grand jury this month, with the list of 32 charges nearly all drug-related. The group appeared briefly before Judge Robert Crigler for arraignment on Monday. Indicted were: n Charles Baker, 34, manufacture of schedule II, simple possession of schedule IV, possession of drug paraphernalia, sale of schedule II, delivery of schedule II, initiation of a process resulting in methamphetamine, possession of schedule II for resale, possession of schedule II for delivery.. ...

Bedford County is number one in the state in a very undesirable category -- fatal alcohol-related crashes, according to Det. Todd Hammond of Bedford County Sheriff's Department. The county also ranks poorly in several other accident-related categories...

Now that digital photography is the norm, how do you go about sharing your snapshots with friends and family? You can e-mail the photos, of course, or post them to photo-sharing sites like Flickr or Picasa. But those aren't the only options, and they don't necessarily cover chance encounters -- those let-me-show-you-my-grandchildren moments that happen on the spur of the moment...

A pair of penalty kicks proved to be the difference as Shelbyville Central lost 3-1 in their season opener to visiting Oakland on Tuesday night. The Eagles (0-1) fell behind 2-0 at the half but played much better in the final 40 minutes. "We didn't play very well in the first half but I thought we played much better in the second half and played with a lot more intensity," Central coach Neal Gordon said. "It's disappointing the game is decided by two PK's."...

The Community Vikings made it two in a row with a 9-3 win over Webb on Tuesday afternoon in a well played game by both squads. Community (2-0) scored first on a lead-off double by Cody Pierce, who came around to score on an RBI single by Joseph Freebury in the opening inning...

Michael Martin and Chris Miller split four first-half goals to stake Cascade to a commanding advantage early that turned into a 7-3 win over Giles County in Pulaski on Tuesday. "Our passing was very good, a lot of good teammwork," Cascade coach Monica Lewis said. "Our defense played well together."...

The Webb lacrosse team eased into their groove Tuesday afternoon and eventually heated up Lagler Field in Bell Buckle as they zipped past Hendersonville 12-3. Midfielder Aanan Butz had five goals to lead the Feet to their first win of the season, in a game that depended heavily on defense, a strategic passing game and a no mercy scoring assault. ...

Things didn't go as Harris Middle had hoped as the Golden Eagles fell 3-0 to visiting Warren County in a Central Tennessee Conference matchup on Tuesday evening. Warren County scored a run each in the first, third and fifth innings. Tyler Dennis had the Eagles' lone hit...