Stories from Thursday, August 14, 2014

Community coach Chris Grooms hasn't had a lot of time to implement his new systems and work with his new team. Though he's been short on time this summer, he likes seeing his team's reaction to his system so far. On Wednesday evening, the Vikings got a chance to line up and simulate game-situations in a scrimmage against the Lancaster Christian Knights--providing both teams a chance to see where they are just over a week out from the Week 0 kickoffs...

A home burglary suspect was in the right place at the right time Wednesday morning when a city detective, who was investigating a breakin reported a few hours earlier, spotted him. After being taken to Shelbyville Police Department, Vincent E. Salters, 51, of Sherwood Trailer Court, confessed to six home burglaries after Det. Sam Jacobs found jewelry and coins allegedly taken from a North Jefferson Street residence earlier Tuesday...

I am so thankful that our recent election has passed. There are times, looking at what political discourse has become in this country, that I fear for our future. Negative campaigning has always been with us, of course, going back to the days of Andrew Jackson, who was subject to personal attacks on his wife Rachel. Many of those whom we now consider great presidents were the subject of venomous attacks during their campaigns and their time in office...

I Am What I Am -- A Music Festival for Autism will be held Saturday at the Bedford County Agricultural Center, with gates opening at 2 p.m. and the show beginning at 3 p.m. Artists playing will be Big Smo, Rayz'n Cain, Tammy Vice with Logan Blade, April Seventeen, Bad Monkey and 90 Proof...

The Get Fit! Tullahoma committee has planned the third annual Community Health Fair and Fitness Expo for 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 13 at Northgate Mall. This event will include a Green Expo. "Sustainability is an important part of a healthy community at many levels. As it relates to the community's health, it is a natural fit to include with an event like this that focuses on personal health issues," community coordinator Winston Brooks said in a press release...

The Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network wishes to offer its condolences regarding the death of Robin Williams on Aug. 11. Mr. Williams was a beloved public figure, and his passing has triggered an outpouring of grief nationally and wall-to-wall coverage in print, television, and social media -- not all of it positive or helpful...

There's only one more week to sign a petition to allow wine sales in grocery stores in Shelbyville. A new state law that took effect in July allows cities and counties with package stores or liquor-by-the-drink to hold referendums on allowing the sale...

No city funds were spent over the past decade to pay for litigation surrounding the fight over a rock quarry. But an informed source told the T-G that legal fees in the case ran as much as "hundreds of thousands of dollars." A T-G reader inquired about the total legal costs and fees as a result of the 10-year legal battle between the city and Wright Paving over the quarry site on L. Fisher Road...

Work crews salvage what they can from the interior of the old Stewart-Potts Motors building on North Main Street as the process of tearing it down begins Wednesday. The structure that housed Shelbyville's Ford dealership from the Model T to Mustang eras was condemned by the city after part of the roof fell in. A look from inside revealed serious structural problems to the walls and roof of the vintage-1920 building. (T-G Photo by David Melson)

Bedford County Board of Commissioners voted 14-1 on Tuesday night to give a $21,000 increase in the county's contribution to the Soil Conservation Service. The county has a list of non-profit agencies to which it contributes. The Soil Conservation Service, which received $37,000 from the county in 2013-14, requested an additional $21,000 from the county -- for a total of $58,000 -- in 2014-15, to make up for lost state and federal grant money, saying that without the extra $21,000 it would be forced to cut staff, and would be able to bring less assistance money into the county for individual landowners.. ...

The Fairview FCE Club met on June 18 at the U.T. Extension Office. President Ann Canady called the meeting to order. Susie Armstrong read the call to order, and Mary Frances Gordon gave the devotion. There was a moment of silence in memory of recently deceased member Lorraine Foster...

Amanda Michelle Marie Day, 25, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, formerly of Shelbyville, died suddenly Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014 in Tulsa. Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014 at Doak-Howell Funeral Home with Jay Pope officiating. Burial will follow at Rosebank Cemetery in Flat Creek. Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. Saturday and beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Tom Nance died in 2007 at the young age of 39, shocking the community and many who had known the amiable third-generation attorney and family man, who served as Chamber of Commerce president in 1996. Mary Morton, Nance's mother, donated a 2006 painting of the Bedford County Courthouse to the county Tuesday night, so that it can be hung at the courthouse in Nance's memory. The painting is by artist Gwen Pedigo, who's also painted the Rutherford County courthouse...