Stories from Thursday, February 19, 2015

Our great flag flying high above the ice at Ear, Nose, & Throat Associates of Middle Tennessee.

Bush in front yard with red berries encased in ice

In times of inclement weather, it's hard to maintain a steady schedule. This is especially true for parents who work away from home and have children who typically attend daycare or preschool. It's important to know the policies of daycares and preschools concerning harsh weather conditions...

Local residents, some of whom had been socked in by ice or inconvenienced by power outages, ventured out Wednesday during a sunny morning and midday, before the return of snow and bitterly-cold temperatures Wednesday night. The temperature leveled off at 7 degrees for several hours before and just after sunrise, according to the National Weather Service...

Taking care of pets is hard enough work even without snow and arctic-like temperatures. Workers at local animal shelters say they have been meeting the challenge. "We have not had a problem getting to the animals at the Humane shelter," said Kimberly Warren, vice president of Shelbyville-Bedford County Humane Association. "We actually had someone who has been there with them since (Monday) morning 24/7."...

Animal shelter directors have some tips for people to take care of their pets in this extremely cold weather. "All pets should be inside during these extreme temps," said Kimberly Warren, vice president of Shelbyville-Bedford County Humane Association. "Dogs that are on a farm to work and not considered pets by their owners should have shelter with three sides and a top. The shelter should not have holes in it."...

Lone Star Rodeo has postponed Saturday's scheduled performance in Calsonic Arena until the following Saturday, Feb. 28. Advance tickets purchased for this weekend will be honored on the 28th. The Crofton, Ky.-based company is celebrating its 25th anniversary in Calsonic Arena. It was started in Texas in 1949 and has been run for the past 37 years by Preston C. Fowlkes Jr...

Lucas McBee, an eighth grader from Shelbyville, recently won the Cascade Middle School Spelling Bee. This is the third consecutive year for McBee winning the spelling bee. There were a total of 16 participants in the Cascade Middle School spelling bee for 2015. Lucas won in the 13th round. He correctly spelled "obvious" as the championship word...

Pleasant Grove FCE club met on Jan. 20. Members present were Elva Lembke, Sherry Brown, Carolyn Adiska, and Donna Parker. Visitors were Karen Perryman, Hazel Foster, and Jerry Sue Boyce. The call to order was read by Carolyn Adiska. A devotional, also read by Adiska, was titled "Speaking the Truth in Love." Roll call was "something you procrastinate about." The educational lesson was "Healthier Tennessee" and covered 60 small choices a person may make in order to begin to live more healthily. ...

Years ago, the owner of a firm that made electric shavers did a TV commercial in which he announced that after he'd tried one, as he put it, "I liked it so much I bought the company." Well, Reuben Shoffner lost 85 pounds in a year and a half -- and he found that he liked what he was doing so much, he's gone back to school to study to be a dietician...

AED: Three letters that could save your life. An automated external defibrillator is a device that can check a person's heart rhythm. It can recognize a rhythm that requires a shock, and can advise the rescuer when a shock is needed, according to the American Heart Association website. The AED uses voice prompts, lights and text messages to tell the rescuer the steps to take...

The heart of a Bedford County accident victim beats on in a New Mexico man 21 years later. And for both families involved, that means a lot. "I'm fine with that," said Leonard "Junior" Donegan of Shelbyville, whose son Travis died at 16 in a 1993 traffic accident. Travis's heart was given to Gerry Cole, who now is semi-retired in Santa Fe, New Mexico...

"I'm just glad to have my life back." A few years ago Anna Collier didn't have much of a life. According to Collier, her life consisted of sitting in a recliner and that's about it. At the time, Collier's weight had reached its all-time high, which was around 500 pounds...

The City of Shelbyville has suspended garbage collection for today and Friday because the cold and ice were deemed too dangerous for workers. Collection is scheduled to resume Monday.

The Webb School has an expanded summer program schedule that includes three weeks of camp focusing on science, technology, robotics, rocketry, Minecraft ed and outdoor adventures courses. The summer program also includes ACT/SAT English and Math prep courses, boys' and girls' basketball skills camp, and boys' and girls' soccer camp. New this summer is an overnight boys' lacrosse camp, and an all-day outdoor adventure camp with one overnight stay...

A woman told Shelbyville police she took $47 worth of cosmetics from Kroger late Tuesday afternoon. Reanna Katherine Finnell, 24, of Lane Parkway told officer Tory Moore she is unemployed so steals things and wishes she could stop. Finnell was charged with shoplifting and, due to a warning from store personnel after an alleged previous incident, criminal trespassing. She posted $1,000 bond...

With the weather being less than desirable for many this week, district basketball tournaments across Tennessee have felt the doom of Mother Nature as well. The District 8-AAA Tournament, being played at Tullahoma High School, has been postponed a number of times and is scheduled to finish on Saturday, weather permitting...

Old man winter just hasn't been very cooperative for county high school basketball teams. By the time the Community Vikings and Viqueens tip-off again, it will have been over a week since their last game played their semifinal round of the District 9-A tournament...