Stories from Tuesday, July 10, 2012

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's parliament on Tuesday ratified a long-awaited agreement with the United States regulating the adoption of Russian children by Americans. The ratification by a 244-96-2 vote in the State Duma came a year after the two countries worked out the pact...

Ernest "Junior" Freeman, 66, of Shelbyville died Monday, July 9, 2012, at Heritage Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday at Hillcrest Funeral Home with the Rev. Donnie Jones and the Rev. Charles Redmond officiating. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday.

This our yearly vacation trip with our family last year to Field of the Woods in Murphy NC at the Cross of the flags of Nations. Not all family members were able to attend.

Dan D. Mitchell, age 79, of Christiana died Monday, July 9, 2012 at his home. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Woodfin Memorial Chapel in Murfreesboro with Darryl Lewis officiating. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery in Murfreesboro. Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday

Frankie Lou 'Nandy' Hemphill, 83, of North Fort Myers, Fla., formerly of Shelbyville, died Monday, July 9, 2012. Per her wishes, there will be no funeral service.

Stubborn as a mule? It may be a well-known saying, but trainer Anita Gravener doesn't think it's a true description. "I don't think they're stubborn," said Gravener, a quarter horse trainer by trade who started training mules last year as a favor to a friend. "They're actually very smart."...

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Bedford County inmate for his failure to prosecute the matter. Jimmy Ray Massey, 38, of Highway 64 East, had filed two hand-written lawsuits -- one claiming at the end of February that jailers were preventing him from filing a suit, and another complaint in May that stated that he was briefly moved out of state without permission...

Getting a new look for back-to-school, Bedford County Department of Education re-launched its web page this week. "When we adopted it a few years ago, the [school's] webpage was ahead of its time," said Ben Barrett, director of technology. At that time, the 14 county schools had moved to a web hosting service in order to provide consistency across all their sites...

More than $18,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from a Sundance Street home between June 30 and Thursday, police were told. A 14-karat gold ring with seven rows of diamonds, valued at $10,000, is among items missing. Two persons had been staying at the residence while the owner was on vacation, police were told...

Despite giving up an early run in the top of the first inning, the Shelbyville Post 23 Junior Legion team was able to bounce back in the bottom half of the opening frame and blew the game wide open in a game one 8-4 victory. Shelbyville responded following the first run by Blackman with a four-spot in the first inning. Shelbyville added insurance runs, which proved key, with one run crossing the plate in the fourth and three more in the sixth...

I took this photo recently on the river front in Savannah, Ga. Thought it was neat to see two huge freight ships passing so close together. You can see the size comparison of them related to the dinner cruise boat close to the dock. Ships from everywhere pass through the port there carrying large containers. Really neat to watch...

Edmund R. Johnson, 79, of Shelbyville died Saturday, July 7, 2012 at Heritage Medical Center. At his request the body was cremated. No services are scheduled. Hillcrest Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.