Stories from Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Dahlia Bell Williamson Sparkman, 96, of Doyle died Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. She was the mother of Pat Martin of Bell Buckle. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Doyle Cemetery. No visitation is scheduled. Hunter Funeral Home of Sparta is handling arrangements.

Reed Harris, 63, of Hopkins Bridge community died Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Lawrence Funeral Home in Chapel Hill with Jim Tedder officiating. Burial will follow at Clay Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. Thursday.

Action on annexing and zoning land for a proposed industrial park will be deferred until November by Shelbyville's city council. A public hearing on a revised plan of services for the park is scheduled next week, and a resolution adopting it is scheduled to be passed by the council...

A Shelbyville church is celebrating its 75th anniversary by preparing to move into a "new" building that is a local landmark. Gateway Church is moving a few blocks up Madison Street to the old Walmart building. Work should be complete by December, and the move could take place around the first of the year, pastor Jason Daughdrill said. Recent renovations include the placing of a new church sign and repaving of the parking lot...

A Christian festival being held Saturday was inspired by a contemporary Christian song about doing something, and its organizer aims to do just that. The Hands of Jesus Festival will be held from 3:30-9:30 at the Bell Buckle Park Amphitheater. Organizer Chris Powell said the idea was born out of the Matthew West song "Do Something."...

If you've noticed that gas prices suddenly shot up this week, you are not alone. Outages at refineries in both Canada and Texas means that the slow decline of the price of gas has stopped -- and even jumped in some markets, as much as five cents locally over the past few days...

Atmos Energy is urging its customers to prepare today for what could be another bone-chilling winter. The United States faced extreme temperatures and record-setting natural gas consumption during the 2013-2014 winter heating season and according to industry leaders, the same may hold true this winter...

Centerstone counseling service is seeing great results through its new emphasis on suicide prevention, an executive says. The national counseling service, which has a Shelbyville office, has spent the last couple of years putting a priority on prevention, said Becky Stoll, LWCS, the company's vice president for crisis and disaster management...

Dr. Ming Wang, of Nashville-based Wang Vision Cataract & LASIK Center, recently visited the Shelbyville & Bedford County Senior Citizens Center and presented a vision care seminar for members and guests. Members and guests were given an opportunity to learn about the most updated equipment, procedures and tips concerning proper vision care...

The Motlow College Foundation and the Motlow STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) outreach program invite the public to attend the annual October Skies Motlow College Star Party this weekend on Motlow's Moore County campus. The program is free and begins at 7 p.m. Saturday in the main parking lot...

Three theft reports were investigated by Shelbyville police Monday, l An estimated $450 worth of hand tools were taken from an unlocked storage shed behind a Perfection Drive home overnight Sunday. l An Echo backpack blower valued at $600 was stolen from the bed of a truck on White Street late Monday morning...

MakeUseOf, a web site I follow, announced last week that it would no longer be actively covering the Windows Phone operating system. And my heart broke a little bit. I use Windows Phone -- I've reviewed many Android devices in these pages, and I can't wait to try out a new iOS device that should be arriving for a review by the end of the week, but my actual phone -- the one I get to keep, and the one I actually use to make and receive phone calls -- is an HTC Windows Phone 8X. ...

After decades of serving First Community Bank in various capacities for decades, Billy Hicks recently announced his retirement from the local bank. First Community Bank will host a reception in Hicks' honor Wednesday, Oct. 8 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the bank's Community Room. Customers are asked to enter the bank through the patio door in the back of the bank...

Kensey Bryan and Isaac Keto listen intently as Southside Elementary School principal Reita Vaughn reads to them about Johnny Appleseed. (Submitted photo)

Quentin Thompson, second from left, received the Good Citizen Award from the Chamber of Commerce Tuesday. Thompson works with Habitat for Humanity, while attending Middle Tennessee State University and working, plus does volunteer work at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. From left, Chamber CEO Allen Pitner, Thompson, Charlene Nelson, Lynn Hulan and Donna Smith. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely)

It was a successful homecoming for Harris Middle as the Golden Eagles rolled past Franklin County South 30-6 in a Central Tennessee Conference matchup on Tuesday evening. A'lantae Harris scored first for the Eagles with quarterback Lucas Ragsdale rushing for the two-point conversion and the 8-0 advantage...

The Harris Middle volleyball team took a pair of wins from the Webb School on Tuesday afternoon, winning both the junior varsity and varsity matches 2-1. In the varsity match, the Eaglettes fell behind the Lady Feet 25-19. But Harris answered with a 25-14 Set 2 win and capped off the match with a 15-10 win...

SMYRNA -- Shelbyville Central suffered a tough 3-2 loss in a non-district soccer match at Smyrna on Tuesday afternoon. Senior Alexis Larion and freshman TeKayla Sanders each found the back of the net for the Eaglettes. "We played hard but I let some starters sit out and get some rest," Central coach Neal Gordon said...