Stories from Thursday, November 22, 2012

Sherry Harris works quickly to ensure inserts are placed in today's paper, which includes 34 pages of local news and advertisements. Folks from various departments set aside their normal morning duties Wednesday to ensure deadlines were met....

The search for a superintendent for Bedford County Schools is on, after board members revised the policy regarding the position's duties and set the criteria for hiring during their regular meeting Tuesday evening at Harris Middle School's library. Just more than a year into his tenure, Dr. Ray Butrum requested an administrative leave in mid-October, and the Bedford County Board of Education met on Nov. 1 to modify Butrum's contract to remove him as school superintendent...

"Do you know what holiday is coming up?" asked the gentleman wearing overalls and a cowboy hat. The boys and girls in Meghan Crowell's second grade class at East Side Elementary did not hold back as they shouted their answer in unison. "Thanksgiving!"...

An unsafe position at the southwest corner of the courthouse lawn -- not intended as a parking space, but not clearly striped to prevent parking -- will be marked, and the city will begin ticketing those who park there, according to discussion at Tuesday night's meeting of Bedford County Board of Commissioners' courthouse and property committee...

If the Community Vikings' opening home game is any indicator of how the season is going to unfold, they may want to station some first responders in strategic places in Roger K. Brothers Gym. Community (3-1) and visiting Columbia Academy played to a draw, with each team holding the lead at various points, until senior Zeke Grissom scored on a twisting, turning drive in the lane with just 8 seconds left to give his team a thrilling 69-67 win Tuesday night...

Coach Allison Martin challenged her team throughout the offseason to become more offensiveminded and it paid off as they opened the regular season with a 72-27 thrashing of Columbia Academy on Tuesday night at Roger K. Brothers Gym. Community led 21-5 after one quarter and bumped the advantage to 38-15 at the half...

You wouldn't think that drawing with a finger on a tiny little smartphone touchscreen would be much fun. But you'd be wrong. The game Draw Something ( omgpop.com/drawsomething ), a sort of online Pictionary, was a sensation earlier this year, with 20 million downloads in a matter of weeks. The result was that the game and its maker, OMGPop, were purchased by online gaming giant Zynga. The fad subsided after a while, although the game is still available and still being played...

After a close first half, Shelbyville Central saw visiting Oakland pull away after halftime for a 76-48 win in the season opener for the Golden Eagles on Tuesday. "I really liked our effort and the focus we played in the first half, even though we we're really clicking on offense, we played well on defense and battled the whole first half," Central coach Stan Eggleston said. "We didn't come back the same way in the third quarter and that was the difference in the ballgame."...

Shelbyville Central's Golden Eaglettes fell behind early and could never catch up in a 56-25 loss to visiting Oakland on Tuesday night. "We've started the season off against a pair of quality basketball teams and both Brentwood Academy and Oakland are two of the top teams in the midstate," Central coach Kevin Thomas said. "I can only hope that playing that type of competition will only make us better later in the season."...

On Monday, the state certified Bedford County Emergency Medical Services' newest ambulance unit, which is in its first completely new ambulance in a number of years. BCEMS took possession of the new unit two months ago. The ambulance service has been relying on ambulance remounts -- recycling the ambulance "box" by re-mounting it to a new truck chassis -- for a number of years, but was in a position where a new ambulance was finally needed...

Trial dates have been set for six people accused of a beating and robbery at a Shelbyville home in May. Circuit Court Judge Robert Crigler scheduled Jan. 28 and 29 as the days a Bedford County jury will decide ....

A new refrigeration unit was stolen from behind Brad's Market, Union Street, last week. The unit, which had been behind the store for several weeks, was last seen Thursday. A .32 caliber Derringer pistol, men's and women's Tyson Foods service rings, wedding and anniversary bands were stolen from a home on Fairground Heights between Nov. 12-18, police were told...

Just ignore the constant complainers we've heard from this year -- some of whom love their country so much that they want to secede from it -- and realize that yes, we do have a lot to be thankful for this year. We can give thanks because donations driving holiday food, clothing and gift drives prove that many Americans still care...

Grady Cunningham, owner of Celebration 2000, and Amber Hale, an employee of Celebration 2000, have donated $5,000 to The Center for Family Development. This gift will assist the organization in its efforts to hold a Family Nurturing Camp for local families...

Joe Hunt, chief manager of H.B. Cowan & Company in Shelbyville and V.R. Williams & Company in Winchester was recently presented with the prestigious Jim Alexander award at the 119th Annual Convention of the Insurors of Tennessee held at the Nashville Hilton Downtown...