Stories from Wednesday, June 8, 2011

James Ray Arnold Jr., 67, of Beech Grove died Tuesday at his home after an extended illness. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Hillcrest Funeral Home with Bob Bush, Jim Highland, Frank Bauer and Denny Hastings officiating. Burial will follow at New Bethel Church Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday evening from 4-8 p.m.

With members calling it the simplest and smoothest budget meeting they ever had, Shelbyville city council was presented with the first draft of a budget containing a 26-cent property tax increase. But the actual amount of the hike won't be known until later this month, after a new certified tax rate is determined. The new rate will help fund a $12.4 million budget...

A pinned-in accident victim's ordeal lasted nearly two hours and required over 20 rescuers early today on U.S. 41A North near River Ranch Estates. The man, whose name has not yet been released by investigators, was partially pinned under the dashboard of an older model Pontiac Bonneville from shortly after 1 a.m. to approximately 2:50 a.m. He was airlifted to a Nashville hospital...

In its May 24 meeting the Bell Buckle Board of Mayor and Alderman voted to increase water rates 20 percent, with a 3 percent increase made automatically every year thereafter. It was a necessary increase, said Mayor Dennis Webb, to stabilize the town's water department financially because of increased rates from water providers and infrastructure improvements and replacements...

The annual "Take A Kid Fishing on the Duck" event will be held Saturday from 9-11 a.m. at Riverwalk Park. The park is located along the Duck River behind Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewerage System on South Main St. This is the third year for the event, according to Jennifer Swann of Shelbyville Parks and Recreation. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the parks department organize the event with the support of numerous community sponsors...

Trial dates have once again been reset for four area residents accused of soring horses, while one was arraigned in federal court on Monday. U.S. Magistrate Judge William B. Mitchell Carter ruled Monday that Barney Davis, 38, of Lewisburg, Christen Altman, 25, of Shelbyville, Paul Blackburn, 35, of Shelbyville and Jeffery Bradford, 33, of Lewisburg will now stand trial Tuesday, Aug. 9 in Chattanooga...

Perhaps the second time is a charm. Kentucky junior-to-be Jordan Cooper was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday in the 23rd round of the Major League Baseball Draft. Cooper has now been selected by the Pirates twice, as they selected him in the 17th round following his senior year at Shelbyville Central in 2009...

Shelbyville Team Camp No. 1 entered Day 3 of four days of girls basketball at four different local venues on Tuesday. Shelbyville Central's Golden Eaglettes were defeated by Upperman 33-19 before an underclassmen-laden lineup guided them to a 33-20 victory over La Vergne...

And now, as much as I hate to admit it, I have to tackle a hairy subject. Literally. Am I the only one who's noticed a lot of songs about hair lately? It seems when Willow Smith told the world she liked to "Whip My Hair," she was starting a whole new trend in music. Since then, I've heard Lady Gaga (yeah, I kinds hate to admit, but I'm becoming a fan) who sang about her hair -- all 57 varieties -- and at least two other recent releases about hair that now, of course, I can't remember...

The battle for your cloud computing business is heating up. On Monday, Apple announced its new iCloud service, a mostly-free service which will replace the paid functions of Apple's previous cloud service, MobileMe. Apple is offering users of its various products the opportunity to store their various documents and photos remotely, so that they can be accessed by any of the customer's devices -- iPhones, iPads, Mac notebooks and desktops -- anywhere...