Stories from Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Robert Brian Barrett, 44, of Shelbyville died Friday from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Murfreesboro. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Hillcrest Funeral Home with Reggie Smith and David Davenport officiating. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens. Visitation was held Monday.

Attendance at this year's Celebration continued its downward trend, mirroring other recreational sporting events, with paid attendance at 168,481, down from 176,732 in 2010. "Although paid attendance was down 4.5 percent, a lot of people felt like the actual attendance at the Celebration was up," said Dr. Doyle Meadows, explaining "more people were in the stands," using tickets they purchased in advance...

A week ago a milestone in the history of Cascade schools was quietly marked. The Bedford County Board of Education received notice that the request to divide the former Cascade School into two entities had been approved by the State of Tennessee. Cascade School formerly comprised grades 7-12. ...

A little more than two years ago Kacie Collier's life changed when a local orthodontist promised her a new smile. Good thing, because Kacie has a lot to smile about. Kacie received a free set of braces from Dr. Tracy Pack after being nominated for his "20 for 20 Reason to Smile" program, a gift worth more than $5,000. Last week, Kacie, once called "pumpkin head" by kids making fun of her for her crooked teeth, showed off her new pearly whites...

There's more happening at the Argie Cooper Library these days and children's librarian Jessica Osborne couldn't be happier. "I wanted to do some new things," she said. "Especially for the children I call the Tweens, the ones between 8 and 12 years old. I feel like the Tweens get left out of a lot. They aren't old enough for the teen activities, but they're too old to be read to at Story Hour -- or at least, they think they are."...

Progress is moving forward on getting Bedford County into the Interlocal Solid Waste Authority, with other counties looking to join the organization, the county's waste authority was told. Highway superintendant Stanley Smotherman and county mayor Eugene Ray recently traveled to Columbia to meet with Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation officials, as well as commissioners from several regional counties...

U.S. Rep. Diane Black, speaking to Tennessee reporters by conference call on Friday, said she was disappointed in President Obama's jobs speech last week. "What I heard was a political speech, frankly," said Black, a Republican from Gallatin. She said many of the ideas discussed are repeats of the stimulus program from 2009, which she said was not effective...

A Shelbyville man was charged with rape after allegedly attacking a woman in her home Saturday. Marquez Candido Pulido, 51, of Couch Lane, was being held on $10,000 bond Monday at Bedford County Jail. The victim told Shelbyville police she was asleep when Pulido attacked. She ordered him out of her bedroom and he angrily tore away her blanket and yelled at her to leave, the report said...

Shelbyville's girls cross country team placed third of eight teams while the boys finished fourth in their season-opening meet Thursday at Franklin County. The girls were able to field a full team for the first time in 5 years. Gerardo Mullins led the Eagles, finishing second overall with a 20:03 time on the 3.1 mile course. Angel Carillo brought home a second for the Eaglettes at 24:31...

Cascade Middle took a hard-fought 29-20 win over Community Middle last Thursday night in Unionville. Community took charge early as running back Darion Pride scored on a 40-yard run up the middle to go up 6-0 early in the first quarter. The extra point try failed...