Stories from Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Henry D. Landers, 89, of Washington, D.C., formerly of Shelbyville, died Friday, July 15. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, July 29 at St. Teresa Catholic Church in Washington.

Nannie Ruth Miles Cleek, 98, of Chestnut Ridge community died Wednesday at Lynchburg Nursing Home after an extended illness. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens with the Rev. Jackie Riddle officiating. Visitation will be held from 5-8 p.m. Thursday.

Grab a spoon and head downtown Saturday morning for a local foodie's dream: The Chili, Chocolate and Chicken Cookoff, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the courthouse square. The chili part of the event features 20 teams from 10 states and Canada. Late entries may be received through the end of day on Friday...

A man convicted of the 2009 knifepoint robbery of a Shelbyville convenience store recently lost his appeal on a number of merits. Richard Lowell "Rick" Blanchard II, 47, was sentenced last year to 11 years in prison for aggravated robbery for the holdup of the Kangaroo store at the Madison Street-Deery Street intersection in the early morning hours of March 8, 2009...

Genial technology commentator Leo Laporte used to be an employee of ZDTV, later called TechTV, but when TechTV was merged into the G4 network it dispensed with Laporte's kind of programming and he left the network. He started a podcast, "This Week In Tech," which turned into a whole network of podcasts, the TWIT network. You can download the podcasts at twit.tv, or watch them live at live.twit.tv, including the casual conversation before and after the show, which is often the best part...

Billy Hix watched the last shuttle launch and got a tear in his eye. It wasn't sentimentality, though, as much as it was disgust. "I have lost my dream tool in teaching," said the NASA educational consultant who lives in Bedford County. "I never lied when I told my students if you want to work hard enough, you will get into space."...

Tennessee's Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from a Bedford County woman found guilty of the 2007 shooting death of a Shelbyville auto salesman. Ashley Mai Cook was convicted for the Feb. 14, 2007 murder of Bill Ross and sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Robert Crigler to life imprisonment for first degree murder, as well as a consecutive sentence of 20 years for conspiracy to commit first degree murder...

The bodies of 11 U.S. soldiers who fought in the Battle of Monterrey in 1846 have been recovered in Mexico, and Bedford County commissioners may join a Lipscomb University history professor in asking that they be brought back to Tennessee for burial at the Mexican War Monument in Gallatin...

A Shelbyville man was taken into custody Monday after a judge discovered he had more DUI's on his record than first believed. Robert William Maher Jr. of Calhoun Street was appearing before Circuit Court Judge Robert Crigler for arraignment after being indicted by the Bedford County grand jury for DUI (fourth offense) and violating the financial responsibility law (lack of insurance)...

Anabelle Scott, Elijah Arnold, Gage Allen and Jacob Comfort found plenty of things to do to burn off all the homemade ice cream they enjoyed at Mount Olivet United Methodist Church's Ice Cream Supper last Saturday. Look for more photos in the Life & Leisure section of Sunday's Times-Gazette. (T-G Photo by Sadie Fowler)

A woman accused of shoplifting placed her baby in danger while attempting to elude a Kroger security officer Monday, Shelbyville police were told. The security officer said he had to grab a baby carrier being held by Shelly Faith Rogers, 27, of Bethlehem Church Road, to keep her from dropping it as she attempted to flee. Rogers did eventually stop, the report said...

More titles were determined Tuesday night in Shelbyville City Open tennis play. Jesse Boles d. Zach Nichols 3-6, 6-4, 10-5 (final). Heather Volls d. Kasondra Johnson 6-2, 6-3 (final). Scott Smith d. Kevin Flores 6-1, 6-2 (final). Cayce Neal d. Rachel Imes 6-3, 6-0 (final)...