Stories from Sunday, August 5, 2012

Donna Marie Edwards, 57, of Belfast died Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012 at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville. Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday at East Commerce Baptist Church in Lewisburg. Burial will follow at Head Springs Cemetery in Belfast. Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. Monday and beginning at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the church. London Funeral Home of Lewisburg is in charge of arrangements.

Sydney Shortridge and Mikey Cook prepare to greet incoming freshmen students at Shelbyville Central High School Friday afternoon. Bedford County students are back to school Monday, with an abbreviated day from 8 to 10 a.m., resuming a full school day on Tuesday. School will be in session through Aug. 23, then break for the Celebration and Labor Day holiday before resuming on Sept. 4. (T-G Photo by Tracy Simmons)

I was listening to comedian Tim Hawkins' latest rendition of his tribute to Chick-fil-A this week, which led me to revisit other performance clips of this former grocery truck driver from St. Louis. A self-taught guitarist, Hawkins is a singer and songwriter, known for dead-on impressions and clever parodies -- all poking fun at family-friendly topics. "It's not like I have choice. Comedy is my only life skill," he jokes...

While the international Olympic competitions have been ongoing in London, a Bedford County man stepped up to a memorial wall this week and wrote, "Thank you Keshawn Brown." In 2009, the New Jersey resident was scuffling with some friends on the street. He fell, fatally striking his head on a curb. He was 21 years old, and he carried a signed organ donor's card in his wallet...

A hearing in federal court is set for next Friday dealing with litigation filed last year by the Bedford County Sheriff's Department's former child abuse investigator. Rebecca Hord has filed a motion to compel against the county and Sheriff Randall Boyce to get them to fulfill discovery requests, hand over documents and answer questions about the suit. A hearing in the matter has been set for Aug. 10 in the chambers of Magistrate Judge William B Carter...

Shelbyville will be providing waste collection services for the Celebration later this month, but only for a short time. The council already had a discussion during last month's study session about the possibility of the city providing garbage services for the annual event, but city manager Jay Johnson and public works director Mark Clanton had informed Celebration officials that due to the short time frame before the event, the decision was made to pursue the services this year...

A Shelbyville woman who can't seem to stay off the roadways was charged with an eighth offense of driving on a revoked license Friday morning. Officers were notified of a driver who appeared to be "playing chicken" with oncoming cars on State Highway 64 West, pulling into their lanes as she approached...

Next week, the city council will consider singing off on an agreement to have Shelbyville's 401K plan analyzed. City manager Jay Johnson explained during the council's August study session that Healthmart USA had conducted discussions about a year and a half ago with former manager Mike Dill and former city recorder Betty Lamb regarding the city's plan...

My mother used to say that I sometimes had a "chip on my shoulder," "the old "woe is me attitude". Funny how I look back and realize that my mom was usually right, of course at the time I thought I knew it all. Attitude is defined as a personal view of something, an opinion or general feeling. ...

Duck River Electric Membership Corporation will hold its annual meeting of members on Saturday, Aug. 18, starting at 9:30 a.m. in the Chapel Hill Elementary School Auditorium, 415 South Horton Parkway, Chapel Hill. Those attending the meeting will have an opportunity to elect their representatives to serve on the DREMC Board of Directors as well as hear operational reports about the cooperative. ...

BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. -- Two students at The Webb School attended Governor's Schools during summer. Micah Rasnick, of Bell Buckle, joined students from across the state at Governor's School for Engineering at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Caitie Connor, of Murfreesboro, was among Tennessee students selected for Governor's School for the Humanities at the University of Tennessee at Martin...

Every year, folks spend approximately $14.1 billion on tourism in Tennessee, and business people from around the county gathered Wednesday to learn how much of that cash can be attracted here. The Shelbyville & Bedford County Chamber of Commerce hosted the tourism workshop featuring Derrick Smith, middle Tennessee's regional manager for the Department of Tourist Development, who has also done promotion work for the Tennessee Titans...

Going into the Community Vikings' sixth season since the program was established, the Vikings have landed three players on the All-State team for their efforts in the 2011 season. Wide receiver Zack James, punter Quinn Frost, and running back Austin Lees were all named to the 2011 All-State team...

Back when I still worked in the newsroom at the Times-Gazette, our editor at the time gave each of us a card with these words written on it: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."...

We had a really good county fair this year. Overall the entries for the creative arts, food preservation, foods and agriculture were up by about 100 entries. We had more garden produce than I was expecting since it had been so dry prior to the fair...

If you traveled down Fairfield Pike on the Saturday evening of May 26, you may have thought that you had taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in Viva Las Vegas. Well, that was the theme at least, for Birtie Owens' 80th celebration of life, hosted by her daughter, Betty Chunn, and granddaughters...

Father's Day was a tough time for the children and wife of Billy Smith. The well-known and much-loved patriarch suffered an aneurysm and a light stroke only a month prior, and was facing a long road to recovery. Smith is progressing well, and returned home last Friday. According to daughter Tabitha McBride, Smith must use a walker and have a home health nurse, but is grateful to be home...

Claude and Joyce Throneberry of Unionville announce the engagement of their son, Larry Shane Throneberry, to Melissa Sue Price of Tullahoma. The bride-to-be is the daughter of the late George Wilson Price of Tullahoma. She is the granddaughter of G.W. and the late Hazel Price of Tullahoma...

Jerri Lynn Smith, Chairperson of the Fairest of the Fair presents K.D. Potts, 2012 Miss Bedford County Fair with a scholarship for $500. (T-G photo by Jim Davis)

William "Bud" and Bobbie Darnell on their wedding day, July 14, 1962.