Stories from Sunday, March 16, 2014

It is that time of year and music lovers will soon gather at music festival after sweaty music festival. I had the opportunity to go to Bonnaroo for the first time last year. It was my first BIG multi-day festival. While I have always enjoyed concerts, I don't know if I love them enough to have fully immersed myself into the Bonnaroo experience. More on this later.....

My granddaughter, Kori, crawled up onto my bed the other morning and held her finger up to me and said, "My finger hurts." Then, with those sweet, sad eyes she looked at me and said, "Papa, kiss it!" How could I say no to that precious little girl? So, Papa kissed his little baby's finger...

Writing is only one of Brannon McConkey's pastimes. McConkey enjoys Brazilian jiu-jitsu, cooking, painting and videography. He also released a blues/jazz CD in 2008. Brazilian jiu-jitsu? McConkey said he considers it more an art form than a deadly form of martial arts...

March is one of those unpredictable transitional months that takes us from the cold of winter to the welcome warmth of spring. We go from hearty, warming meals to ones filled with the cool crops of the early spring garden, with fresher, brighter flavors. Stir frying is a perfect technique for cooking during the transitional months. You can adjust your ingredients from root vegetables and beef for the cooler days to chicken with peas, broccoli or asparagus for the beautiful, sunny spring days...

The Oscar Mayer company made headlines this month with a device it's giving away to contest winners -- an iPhone alarm clock plugin that wakes you up with not only the sound of sizzling bacon but also a little whiff of bacon scent. No one can deny that bacon is delicious, and there's been a national fascination with it in recent years. But it's also, and I don't think I'm shocking anyone here, not exactly health food...

At the end of last month, Chad Graham left his position as director of Bedford County Emergency Medical Services, a position he'd held since 1997, to take a position administering a private medical practice. He had been full-time with BCEMS since 1991...

Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham Camp 72 will meet Tuesday, March 25, at the Oak Restaurant in Manchester. Dinner will be at 6 p.m. with the meeting at 7 p.m. The program for March will be a DVD presentation on Camp Douglas, "Eighty Acres of Hell." When Civil War prison camps are mentioned, the name Andersonville always comes up. ...

Donations are being requested for Arthur "Old Man" Sutton Sr., who is battling heart failure among other health issues. An account has been set up in his name at First Community Bank. Checks should be made out in his name. Anyone wishing to send Sutton a get-well card may mail it to 238 Temple Ford Lane, Shelbyville, TN 37160...

Here's our weekly look back at the past seven days in local news. Choose the best answer for each question. 1) Shelbyville and Bedford County are being asked to split the cost of a new industrial park, which would be located... A. on the Shelbyville bypass near Railroad Avenue...

The following were arrested between Monday and early Friday by the Shelbyville Police Department, Bedford County Sheriff's Department, Tennessee Highway Patrol or 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force. They are only charged; guilt or innocence will be determined by the courts...

Dear editor: Our town is like our home, a thing to take pride in. Something has gone wrong! The trash being thrown in our residential areas is growing daily. I find it hard to believe any of us would dump trash in our own yard just because the garbage can is not nearby...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Generally, the Times-Gazette has not run letters/opinion pieces during election season. However, with the Common Core issue at the forefront of legislative debate, we believe this commentary is both relevant and timely for the Bedford County community...

"When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier." -- Roy E. Disney We have 263 bills on the sub-committee calendars and 143 bills in full committees for a total of 406 bills to be heard this week. Session is really speeding up and many contentious bills are making their way through the system. The halls of the Legislature are full of people up here voicing their opinions on several pieces of legislation...

The self-service driver's license renewal kiosk on the first floor of Bedford County Courthouse has been used 737 times since it was installed in November 2012, according to Dalya Qualls of Tennessee Department of Safety. "We are pleased with the self-service kiosk program," said Qualls in an e-mail on Wednesday, "as it provides citizen another option to renew or replace their driver licenses and it reduces the wait times in our driver services centers. ...

It's nearly time to test your knowledge -- or maybe your luck -- by selecting the winners of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament with the T-G's annual Bracket Bucks contest. Sponsored by the Shelbyville Times-Gazette and Kincaid Service Co., Bracket Bucks offers top prizes, including a 43-inch plasma screen television from Kincaid which will be awarded to the local point winner. ...

Bedford County firefighter Phillip Prince inspects the motorcycle on which Floyd Green was seriously injured late Friday afternoon on Gant Road. Green was airlifted from the scene to Vanderbilt Medical Center suffering from cuts and internal injuries after losing control on a curve, officials said. (T-G Photo by David Melson)

A lot of road work will be going on in Shelbyville this year, with an Elm Street project beginning within the next 10 days. The Elm Street portion of the Madison Street-North Main Street intersection will be blocked during the day and reopened at night, according to public works director Mark Clanton...

For a double music major like Angela Anderson, a trip to Austria is the dream of a lifetime. A dream she hopes will come true this summer. "If you're going to study opera," said Anderson, "people go to Austria." Anderson, a Shelbyville Central High School graduate who is now in her fifth year of study at Tennessee Tech, has been accepted in the FAVA (Franco-American Voice Academy) Opera Program in Salzburg, Austria, with two small roles in a production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" ("Die Zauberflote").. ...

Sherry and Eric Perryman hold Bear the dog prior to the start of Saturday's "Paws for a Cause" 5K/1 Mile Fun Walk. (T-G Photo by Jason Reynolds)

The Community Viqueens got a good start in a doubleheader against Cannon County on Friday evening, but couldn't shut down a six-run fourth inning in game one and fell 7-4. Though the Viqueens battled tough in the nightcap, they couldn't get the needed hits and fell 1-0...

MURFREESBORO -- The Community Vikings lost a pair of games to AAA teams in the Grand Slam Tourney Friday night at Blackman. Community lost to Stewarts Creek 6-3 in the first game. After trailing 2-0, the Vikings took the lead in the top of the third with a three-run inning. Taylor Paschal drove in two runs with a double, scoring Tyler Broiles and Kyle Davidson, who were on with singles. Quinn Frost followed with a sacrifice fly to finish the scoring...

BRENTWOOD -- Shelbyville Central split a pair of pool-play games in the Brentwood High School Softball Classic on Friday evening. The Eaglettes defeated host Brentwood 14-0 in the first game before falling 9-1 to three-time defending state champion Baylor in the second...

Closing pitcher Chandler Monajjem thought he had secured an 8-7 win for the Cascade Champions with a borderline call on a two-out, two-strike pitch in the top of the seventh inning on Friday night. He left no doubt on the next pitch when he struck out Griffin Harper to end the game...

If you want to obtain a college education and take classes from MTSU or Motlow, there may be a scholarship waiting for you. A scholarship fund is available for people who take classes at Middle Tennessee Education Center (MTEC), with an emphasis on helping Bedford County residents, said Wayne Dillingham, the center's coordinator...