Stories from Sunday, August 21, 2011

There were tears in Lillie Buchanan's eyes Saturday morning as she stood on the steps of Bedford County Agriculture and Education Center on Midland Road and watched the trailers of local search and rescue groups pull in to the parking lot. It had been 11 years and 11 months to the day since her grandson, Antonio "Tony" Taylor, 21, had left her home with a wave. She's not seen him since...

When Nashville's 4Wheel Parts was looking for a young man with a truck in need of a makeover, they made contact with Judy King, director of Camp Phoenix. King immediately thought of Justin Hardy, who had been attending the camp since he was age 9. From there, the conspiracy to keep the makeover a secret began...

It was a game of big plays on both sides of the football as the Shelbyville Central rolled to a 40-13 victory over visiting Coffee County in the season opener on Friday night. Along the way Shelbyville's defense caused four fumbles, including one for a touchdown, picked off a pass and blocked a pair of punts, returning one to the end zone...

MT. PLEASANT -- With only 2 minutes remaining, Cascade senior quarterback Jared Carkuff faked a pass and ran it in for a 20-yard touchdown to hold off the Mount Pleasant Tigers 22-14 in Friday's season-opening contest on the road. Carkuff ran for 66 yards and scored twice, while senior running back Jakiel Hughes racked up an impressive 197 rushing yards on 33 carries and added a touchdown of his own to lead the Champions offensively...

The Community Vikings took to the road and recorded a dominant 34-7 win over Mount Juliet Christian Academy on Friday night. It's the first season-opening win in school history for Coach Johnnie Frost's squad. "I can't be more proud of the 21 kids that have stuck with this program and gave their heart and souls to represent Community," Frost said. "Their hard work and dedication paid off tonight...

Cascade Middle charged to an early lead and held off Forrest's Rockets 28-26 Thursday night at Cascade Field. The Champs (2-0), coming off a 20-14 win against Moore County the previous week, drove the length of the field on the opening kickoff, scoring on a 5-yard run by quarterback Chandler Sulcer...

Westwood handed Liberty a 16-8 loss despite a hard fight by the Patriots on Thursday night. Liberty held Westwood scoreless in the second half with middle linebacker J.J. Bayne and defensive end Jay Wilkerson drawing particular praise. The Patriots made adjustments at halftime to battle back into the game. Running back Jake Patterson scored for Liberty on a play set up by a pass from quarterback Will Warner to running back Wilkerson...

The city of Shelbyville is trying once again to have an ongoing federal lawsuit over a proposed rock quarry dismissed. Last October, Norma and Tommy Wright, Wright Paving Co. Inc., and Custom Stone LLC filed a suit in federal court for $10 million against the city, the board of zoning appeals, the planning commission, and codes and planning director Ed Dodson "in his official capacity and individually," accusing them of violating due process, inverse condemnation, unconstitutional taking, negligence and creating an unconstitutional "floating" zone.. ...

Submitting over 300 pages of depositions and documents, attorneys for Bedford County are asking a federal judge to dismiss the remaining claims of a wrongful death suit involving a county jail inmate. In Oct. 2009, 54-year-old Larry Dale Byford died at Vanderbilt Medical Center after suffering an apparent heart attack while incarcerated at the county jail...

The death of a 7-month-old girl at a Shelbyville home Friday afternoon is under investigation, but police say her death could have been from natural causes. An autopsy was scheduled for Saturday, at which time police hoped to get more answers. The names of the chid and her family members have not been released...

A parent's nightmare came true for Barbara Newsom on an October afternoon nine years ago. Her son Justin Handy, then 8 years old and a third grader, got off the school bus and went to play with the prize he had nabbed from the countertop of a local restaurant the night before. His intent was to start a fire. With gasoline...

"As a child, my family's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it." This quote, by the late comedian Buddy Hackett, has been ringing over and over in my head these days like a really bad song sung by William Hung. I bravely made my way to Walmart last weekend with my new little buddy, my nephew Joey, in tow (he recently moved to Tennessee). ...

The musical Fiddler on the Roof tells the story of a poor Orthodox Jewish family living in a small village in Tsarist Russia in 1905. Included in the production, there is a song that paints a sweet and comical picture of love between a husband and a wife. It is a conversation between the main character, Tevye, and his wife, Golde. The conversation goes like this:...

Everyone loves a garden. A fresh ripe tomato straight from the vine, how good! For many it is time to harvest those garden goodies! The harvesting can often seem as large a task as the planting and the weeding. With harvesting comes many questions:...

An individual passed four $100 counterfeit bills at Tractor Supply Co., North Main St., Wednesday, police said. The suspect is described as a black man approximately 55-65 years of age and 6 feet to 6-feet-2 tall. Pills were taken from a Robinson Addition home early Thursday morning, police said...