Stories from Friday, May 6, 2011

During Thursday's special called meeting, the board voted to extend the school year by two days to make up for two days schools were closed last week due to flooding. School will now be in full-day session on Wednesday and Thursday, May 25 and 26. An administrative day will take place Friday, May 27, and report cards will be given out on an abbreviated school day Saturday, May 28. Normal school buses will run on that Saturday but special education buses will not...

Bedford County Board of Education, in a special called meeting Thursday night, selected Dr. Ray Butrum, assistant principal of Barfield Elementary School in Rutherford County, as its "person of focus" for school superintendent, and voted to enter into contract negotiations with Butrum for the position....

Marilyn Massengale told the crowd at the annual National Day of Prayer luncheon on Thursday that prayer is "our direct line to God," and even sang a few lines of the blues song "Jesus Is On The Main Line." "Some people say 'I don't know how to pray,'" said Massengale. "Well, you can talk, can't you?"...

A Bedford County chancellor has refused to stop the district attorney from seizing machines that authorities allege are used for illegal gambling. Chancellor J.B. Cox denied a motion Thursday for a restraining order and temporary injunction filed by Keith Heflin that would have stopped District Attorney General Chuck Crawford from seizing devices Heflin claims only sell phone cards...

The city is one step closer to the start of work at a intersection that's been considered dangerous. Shelbyville's city council will vote next Thursday to sign a contract with Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) to install a number of safety improvements to the intersection at Fairfield Pike and Tulip Tree Drive...

LAWRENCEBURG -- It's been a few years since Shelbyville Central won an opening round game of the District 8-AAA baseball tournament. The Golden Eagles put that thought to rest after defeating host Lawrence County 7-3 in eight innings on Thursday evening...

A Shelbyville man faces drug charges after his arrest Wednesday at a Railroad Avenue home. Paul Douglas Smith, 41, was seen throwing smoked marijuana "roaches" out of a residence, a witness told police. Officers said they saw a bag of marijuana and a roach clip through a window, then found another bag of marijuana and a package of rolling papers in a bedroom along with five Lortabs...

LYNCHBURG -- Looking to make some noise in the District 9-A tournament coming off a head-turning finish to its regular season in which it took down each of the top two teams in the standings, fifth-seeded Community was sitting pretty with a seventh-inning lead over fourth-seeded Moore County on Thursday afternoon...

Avid running enthusiasts don't term it a race to be run, but a race one survives. At 7 a.m. Saturday Gary Cantrell will purse his lips and blow a conch shell loudly -- once again signaling the start of the Strolling Jim ultra-marathon in Wartrace. Accounts vary, but at age 33, the local race appears to be the second-oldest ultra-marathon east of the Rockies. ...

LAWRENCEBURG -- Soccer is one high school sport where you can drive an hour and a half to play a regular season match and return home without a win or loss. Such was the case Thursday for Shelbyville Central (4-10-2, 1-2-2 8-AAA) as they took the long road trip to Lawrence County for the final regular season matchup and returned home with a 1-1 tie...

Summer Carter did damage both in the batter's box and from the pitcher's circle in leading Cascade to a 16-1 win over visiting Community in a run-rule shorted four innings in the opening round of the District 9-A tournament. The eighth grader smacked a single in each of her four at-bats and drove in two runs. She also no-hit the Viqueens with eight strikeouts, one hit batter and one base on balls...

A clutch performance in singles play pushed Shelbyville Central's boys tennis team to a 4-3 win over Lincoln County in the District 8-AAA tournament on Thursday. "The boys made some adjustments early on when they fell behind in a couple of the singles matches," Shelbyville coach Doyle Hutton said. "I thought they played maturely out there today."...