Stories from Wednesday, August 31, 2011

This picture was taken from my sons balcony overlooking Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture responded to the Times-Gazette's inquiry about the experience level of veterinarians inspecting horses during last Saturday evening's Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. Industry leaders expressed their frustration with USDA inspectors after the agency turned down six horses before the aged stallion class...

Activities outside the ring have paralleled the excitement inside the show ring for those who've attended the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. At any given time, horse enthusiasts can be seen visiting with each other in front of the barns, locals can be sighted picking up a dozen of the famous doughnuts and youths might be seen swapping stories about the latest world champion...

Reduced departure time after the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration's busier nights is already noticeable, emergency officials say, but changes in traffic patterns are still a work in progress. "It appears to be emptying out fairly quickly," Scott Johnson, director of Bedford County Emergency Management Agency, said Tuesday. "The real time to tell will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday -- the big nights."...

Now that the new Shelbyville bypass is completed, will the city annex it? City manager Jay Johnson told the city council Tuesday night many have asked what kind of development the city will see in that area now that State Highway 437 is completed. Opened to the public two weeks ago, the new highway runs from the overpass at U.S. 231 North to U.S. 41A South toward Tullahoma...

A sheriff department employee claims that retaliation is continuing against those who filed a federal lawsuit over unpaid overtime. He says the retaliation is in the form of displaying news articles about the matter at Bedford County Jail. Two weeks ago, maintenance worker Jeremy Beech joined a lawsuit filed by four detectives who allege they have worked for two years without being paid overtime, and were demoted for informing county officials about the situation...

World Grand Championship classes are just two days away and things are well underway at the 73rd annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. Enthusiastic fans were greeted with a 13-class schedule full of talented horses Tuesday night. Jimmy McConnell walked off with the blue ribbon on One Fine Line in the Four-Year-Old Walking Mares (Canter) class. Main Sweetie and Phillip Trimble received reserve honors...

A man who filed a class action suit against the county and a deputy last year is asking for more time to file motions in the case. Last December, Ricky Robertson sued Bedford County, Deputy Kevin Roddy and "John Does," alleging violations of the 4th, 8th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution...

A key chain accidentally left in an apartment door was too much of a temptation for a thief Monday on Purdy Court. The resident told Shelbyville police he heard a noise at his door about 1 a.m., looked out and saw no one. Later in the day he realized the keys were missing, checked his car at noon and discovered three compact discs and $487 were missing, police said...

I've written in the past about the difference between full-featured tablets like the iPad and dedicated e-book readers like Amazon's Kindle. Amazon, the leader of the e-reader market, is reportedly planning on entering the tablet market as well at some point in the future. There's now a lot of speculation about whether Amazon might take a lesson from the recent Hewlett-Packard tablet sell-off and price its tablet low, perhaps even at a loss...

Webb Middle's girls soccer team left Huntland with a 2-0 win Tuesday afternoon. "Although it was a win, Webb did not play as well as they could have," assistant coach Mary Jo Johnson said. A.C. Tuma scored on a penalty kick in the first and Elizabeth Bigham scored in the second half...