Stories from Tuesday, August 28, 2012

It's Monday night, the halfway point of the 74th Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. After tonight's events, there will only be two more preliminary sessions prior to Championship competition getting underway on Thursday night. In fact, two World Grand Champions have already been crowned. ...

Lovie B. Nelson-Avent, 92, died Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31 at Bright Temple Church of God in Christ. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at Nelson & Sons Memorial Chapel and lie-in-state from 11 a.m.-noon Friday with visitation from noon-1 p.m. at the church.

New and returning Bedford County teachers got a 'smart' start to the school year, with a three-day induction program held at Shelbyville Central High School. SMART stands for Sucess-oriented, Motivational, Adaptive, Results-driven Teaching. "The goal of this program was to enable teachers to experience success from the very first day of school," said Janice Womble, supervisor of secondary instruction...

Doris Duntly, a 30-year-old mother of two, was recently deserted by her husband. He left her with $10 in cash and nothing in the bank. Before abandoning the family, he incurred a lot of debt that Doris has been forced to tackle. Doris dropped out of high school 15 years ago during her first pregnancy and is struggling to keep a roof over her family's head. ...

The Bedford County Health Department has launched a Primary Prevention Initiative this August by asking clinic staff members and clients to keep the entire property smoke-free. While the clinic has long been a smoke-free facility, local health officials are increasing the smoke-free area around the building as a way to prevent tobacco-related illnesses...

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has announced that the entry fee for the World Grand Championship class will be refunded in full if the entry does not show for any reason. The $2,500 entry fee is due by Friday at noon. The 74th Annual Celebration culminates with the crowning of the World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horse on Saturday in class 177. The refundable entry fee is not a new policy as the Celebration has instituted the same in 2009, 2012 and 2011...

Da'Rick Rogers officially has left Tennessee's football team, just not the state's borders. The former all-Southeastern Conference wide receiver has transferred to Football Championship Subdivision program Tennessee Tech, the school confirmed Monday afternoon. The move was announced four days after Tennessee indefinitely suspended Rogers for a violation of team rules...

KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee's athletic department posted a $3.98 million deficit for the2011-12 fiscal year that forced it to use a substantial portion of its financial reserves, department officials acknowledged Monday. Although the athletic department made $106.5 million in revenues, it had $110.5 million in expenses. ...

OLD HICKORY -- The Webb golf team hit the road and traveled to Old Hickory on Monday afternoon for a quad match against Ensworth, FRA, and DCA. Led by Ben Morris, the Feet were just edged out of capturing third in the match on Monday and finished with a final score of 188, just three strokes back from DCA...

FLAT SHOD PLEASURE DRIVING 1) OVERPASS, Patti Pollack, Pollacks Silver Spur Ranch; 2) JOSES BABY DOLL, Jeff Laughlin, Doris Penick; 3) SCORES HEARTBREAKER, Kathy Owen, Kathy Owen/Double Springs Farm; 4) STARRY EYES, Shelli MeHaffey, Sally Reiley; 5) ARIANA, Dr Linda Jones, Jones/Lane; 6) TRIGGER ON THE PROWL, Jeff Givens, JoAnn Dowell; 7) MY PRIVATE EYE, Ann Marie Couch, Royce/Ann Marie Couch; 8) CEO OF THE RITZ, Jody Brannon, Brooke Daly/Jody Brannon. ...

John Steve Freeman, 58, of Shelbyville died Monday, Aug. 27, 2012. Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Willow Mount Cemetery. Feldhaus Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.

Gov. Bill Haslam on Friday announced appointments to state boards and commissions, including the appointment of Barbara Blanton of Shelbyville to the state Emergency Communications Board. Blanton was appointed along with Randy Porter of Cookeville. Haslam announced the appointments of 109 Tennesseans to 48 state boards and commissions...

After surviving a crash in which his truck flipped four times and knocked out electricity over a large portion of Shelbyville early Sunday, James Avery Crowell told Shelbyville police he "couldn't remember" what happened. Officers found Crowell, 24, of South Cannon Boulevard standing against a fence bleeding near his overturned truck at the sharp curve on East Lane Street at the Thompson Street intersection...