Stories from Friday, December 9, 2011

Perfect landing.

Early one Sunday morning just before a Big Thunderstorm.

A man charged in the death of his 4-month-old daughter following an accident on the Shelbyville bypass made his first court appearance Thursday. Edward Petatan-Rendon, 26, of Smith Street, charged with reckless homicide and six counts of reckless endangerment, has a second appearance before General Session Judge Charles Rich set for Jan. 12. He is free on $35,000 bond...

Physician and former astronaut Rhea Seddon of Murfreesboro took Webb School students with her on a journey into Earth orbit on Thursday. Seddon, a veteran of three space shuttle missions, appeared as part of the school's Follin Speaker Series. With the help of video footage, she told the story of STS-40, a 1991 mission dedicated to research in life sciences during which she and her crewmates performed a series of experiments testing the effects of space travel on humans -- and on some of the shuttle's other passengers, several laboratory rats.. ...

A meeting Monday night at the Shelbyville Central High School theater is designed to enlist local businesses in improving the county's graduation rate. According to state report card figures released this month, Bedford County's 2010 graduation rate was 79.3 percent, far below the state goal of 90 percent...

When guests visit Suzanne Wheeler's horse farm, they tease her that it looks like the colloquial 'dog and pony show' -- which seemed like the perfect name for an event featuring and honoring both. "Who do you know that loves horses, who doesn't also have dogs?" said Wheeler...

The county's former child abuse investigator has filed a federal lawsuit against Sheriff Randall Boyce and Bedford County, claiming she was fired for supporting other officers suing over unpaid overtime, and also for her race and gender. Rebecca Hord filed a complaint Wednesday in U.S. District Court under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Tennessee Human Rights Act (THRA) for failure to pay overtime, racial and gender discrimination, as well as retaliatory discharge...

In what became a low scoring, defensive struggle, the Cascade Lady Champions were able to knock down just enough shots early on to outlast the Eagleville Lady Eagles Thursday night. Cascade built an early 6-4 lead by the end of the first quarter with Taylor Barnes knocking down four points early. The Lady Champs extended that lead to five points heading into halftime...

The Community Middle Viqueens exploded for big numbers in the first half against the Liberty Lady Patriots in Thursday's semifinal of the Duck River Valley World Tournament. But a tenacious and determined Liberty squad fought and clawed its way back into the game, and at one point held a narrow lead with just minutes remaining. Clutch shots, however, saved the Viqueens in the 36-34 win and punched Community's ticket to Saturday's championship game where they'll face rival Cascade...

The Community Middle Vikings' one-two punch of Corey Mooneyham and Darian Pride proved to be too much for the Cascade Champions to overcome in the semifinal showdown of the Duck River Valley World Tournament held in Chapel Hill. Community staved off the Champs by knocking down 5 of 5 free throw attempts in the final minute to secure the 47-41 win and a chance to take on undefeated MTCS in the championship game on Saturday...

As the unfortunate news spread across our community yesterday afternoon about the sudden death of Harris Middle School eighth grader Kenzell Hiles, many of us had thoughts of disbelief. Kenzell apparently hadn't been feeling well and was complaining of headaches...

16 month old Evan Mallett.

We noticed this photo opportunity at A crossroads in Bedford county so we decided to pull over and take this picture.

David Sr. and David Jr. climbing at Neverest Park.

Jumping on the rocks below the damn can be very tricky.