Stories from Sunday, November 23, 2014

Poo Boy, a black miniature poodle, celebrated his 17th birthday on Oct. 19 in the Our Town Community Park on the square. Poo Boy has been seen on the square since he and his owner, Cindy Stephenson, arrived here from Kansas in 2008, earning him the nickname "The Square Dog." He greeted customers when Stephenson operated W.R.L. ...

Thanksgiving Day is almost upon us! Before we know it we will be right in the middle of another holiday season. The traditional day off from work, family dinners, and Black Friday sales sometimes make me forget how we ended up with this holiday in the first place...

Well, it's my first week on the new job. I sit here at my desk, still slightly amazed that I'm doing just that. I just realized I've never had a 'desk' before. That's something new. It takes a while for our minds to adjust to new situations, new faces and anything else attached to major changes in our life. It's always fun entering into a new world. Maybe not always, but most of the time...

I have been blessed! And I am so grateful for all of the blessings that God has given me. There's an old hymn that I love to sing that reminds me to consider the many ways that I've blessed Johnson Oatman, Jr. wrote these words: When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,...

Jennifer Nicole Gashaw and William Douglas Clark, both of Shelbyville, were united in marriage on the afternoon of Oct. 11 at Whitney Chapel at Parish Patch in Normandy. The bride is the daughter of Kelvin and Debbie Gashaw of Shelbyville. The groom is the son of Townie and Samantha Clark of Shelbyville...

TIMES-GAZETTE: You're president of the United Methodist Women (UMW) at First United Methodist Church on the square. Tell us a little bit about the group and what it does. TAYLOR: The United Methodist Women are "a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church."...

You'll soon be tasting the flavors of the season as Thanksgiving fiercely approaches. A couple weeks ago, on a chilly afternoon, I really needed some comfort food. However I didn't want to go overboard because I'm trying to save up for Turkey Day. You can have the best of both worlds. ...

In today's society, where modern medicine and agriculture have changed the way we live, it's easy to forget that in a not too distant past most people relied on what grew around them for healing and supplement. For one Shelbyville man, these are details worth remembering...

After hanging tough with the Tullahoma Lady Wildcats (1-2), the Cascade Lady Champions fell victim to a sluggish second half and fell 58-34 in another non-district tilt. Cascade (0-4) hung tough through much of the first half, despite several unforced turnovers...

The Community Vikings headed to Murfreesboro on Friday night looking for their first win of the season as they faced a winless Central Magnet Tiger team. The two teams battled in a back-and-forth thriller that wasn't decided until the closing seconds when the Tigers hit a three to win 40-39...

The Community Viqueens entered a hostile Central Magnet gym on Friday night as they took on the undefeated Lady Tigers. A second quarter rally had the Viqueens leading at the half, but it wasn't enough as Central Magnet fought back to win 57-48. The first quarter set the tone with both teams showcasing solid offense and defense in the quarter...

Make it a 4-0 start to the season for the Cascade Champions. On Friday night, the Champs marked their fourth win to start the 2014-2015 season, knocking off the Tullahoma Wildcats 64-49. Cascade utilized perhaps its best half of the year thus far in the first two quarters and opened up the game early on...

Second-seed Shelbyville Central's magical season came to a halt after a 42-9 loss at undefeated top-seed Hillsboro in the quarterfinals of the TSSAA Class 5A State Playoffs on Friday night. "We knew coming into this game that a lot of things would have to go our way. We knew we would have to make some plays and get some bounces to our way and it just wasn't meant to be," Central coach Jason Hardy said...

On Nov. 6, 2014, Russ Flade officially became an American soldier with the Army National Guard. He will begin his training immediately in Smyrna while still attending high school at Cascade High School through a program called RSP -- Recruit Sustainment Program...

The Times-Gazette will publish a bargain-filled Thanksgiving Day edition, to be distributed as a morning edition. No T-G will be published Wednesday, The regular publication schedule will resume Friday, although the T-G's offices will be closed,

A Shelbyville man was charged with domestic assault after allegedly forcibly taking a $10 bill from a woman's mouth as she attempted to eat it Thursday. John Alexander Smith, 26, of Green Lane handed her a $10 bill and pack of cigarettes and said he had taken money from her purse earlier, according to police...

If prayer is not working for you, a professional pilot/priest says perhaps you should put performance behind it. Robert Bakke is a private jet captain, part-time NASCAR racer and ordained minister in Minnesota who has written a self-published book titled, "Prayer at Full Throttle: How Performance-Based Prayers Make Miracles Happen." I don't normally review self-published books unless they are written by local authors, but Bakke's book captured my attention...

Several boxes of non-perishable food items were collected by the Shelbyville Lions Club and employees of Duck River Electric Membership Corp. and donated to Good Samaritan for their food pantry. Katie Guthrie, President of the Lions Club, would like to issue a challenge to other businesses and civic organizations to have their own food drive to help fill the shelves of local food pantries this holiday season...

A Shelbyville man convicted of an armed robbery has lost another appeal for a shorter sentence. In 2007, Richard Lowell Blanchard II pleaded guilty to five misdemeanors and was sentenced to serve nine months "day-for-day" in the Bedford County Jail, followed by three years and three months supervised probation...

Shelbyville's planning commission recommended city council approval for a number of site plans and plats, including a new Dollar General store on Madison Street. The 10,640 square foot store will be on a currently-vacant lot on Madison, directly across from Aztec Market east of the Bethany Lane intersection, with 30 parking spaces -- a variance allowed following a brief meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals...

It's the time of year when wish lists are compiled and gift ideas emerge. You can bet that the biggest items on shoppers' lists are good deals. This is why many shoppers will stand in line for hours on Black Friday, sometimes in freezing cold. Some retailers such as Sears Hometown Store of Shelbyville, owned by Mike and Vickie Winton and located at 620 Madison St., are giving those deal seekers the opportunity to start early. ...

The former husband of a Bedford County teacher missing since February 2011 has been charged with trying to drown his girlfriend in Florida. Tyler Mook was on a boat with the girlfriend, his brother Andrew Mook and another woman in Palm City, Fla., on Oct. 4, Florida investigative reports indicate...

It's father vs. son in an Insell rivalry showdown on Sunday afternoon as the MTSU Blue Raiders (1-2) travel to Oxford, Miss., to face the Ole Miss Rebels (3-0) in a non-conference tilt. For the first time, a women's Division I college basketball team features competing father and son coaches...

Monica Bello waits for a customer at her mother's booth at the Holiday Bazaar craft fair held Saturday at the Times-Gazette. (T-G Photo by Jim Davis) Kyra Powell prepares to hang a scarf she made in her grandmother's booth to sell. The event was a benefit for the T-G's "Press Power" team in the American Cancer Society Relay For Life. (T-G Photo by Jim Davis)...