Stories from Thursday, March 19, 2015

Sonya Renee Essary, 42, of Shelbyville died Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Graveside services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Willow Mount Cemetery. There will be no visitation. Doak-Howell Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Dear Editor, Regarding your March 10 story about trying to preserve the old house at 705 Alton Ave., I applaud the preservationists' goal of preserving our past. I would suggest a better way may be to identify, buy, then preserve what they own...

March 15-21 is Sunshine Week -- the annual nationwide celebration of access to public information. So, of course, it was the perfect time for the White House to remove a federal regulation that subjects its Office of Administration to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)...

A massive tree on the west side of Bedford County Courthouse would cause damage if it were to fall, and it also blocks the view of the courthouse from a new video camera on the roof of the county-owned former bank building nearby. Bedford County Board of Commissioners' courthouse and county property committee wants to bring in an arborist to try to study the tree and determine whether it's healthy. If it is, the arborist will be asked for advice on how far the county could go in cutting it back...

Bedford County charges local inmates, as opposed to felons being held on behalf of the state, $30.77 per day to stay in the jail. "Do any of them pay it? Probably not," said Sheriff Austin Swing during his report at Tuesday night's meeting of Bedford County Board of Commissioners' law enforcement and workhouse committee...

One of the largest-ever amounts of crystal methamphetamine found in Bedford County was confiscated by law enforcement Tuesday at a Midland Road home. Takesta Lynne Smith, 34, and Souriya Syharath, 32, were arrested following a search of their residence, Assistant Director Tim Miller of the 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force said...

A man received a 35-year sentence for kidnaping and beating his girlfriend in 2013. Paul Brent Baxter, 43, received a 20-year sentence at 100 percent for aggravated kidnapping and 15 years at 45 percent for aggravated assault from Circuit Court Judge Forest Durard...

A. Leon Clark, 67, of Gastonia, North Carolina, a former Bedford County resident, died Wednesday, March 18, 2015. A celebration of life service will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at East Garrison Baptist Church in Gastonia, North Carolina. Visitation will begin at 4 p.m.

Work on North Main Street has moved to the second phase, with traffic patterns now barricaded to three lanes from Madison Street to the end of the project at Lowes. One lane north and south will be open along with a turn lane. The decision was made after much discussion with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to "keep the project moving since they are behind on the schedule," city public works director Mark Clanton said. The traffic flow will remain like this until the project ends, which is expected in November. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely)

Bell Buckle will hold its annual Daffodil Day observance 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday. The event, sponsored by Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce and Bell Buckle Tree Board, is in honor of the thousands of daffodils that line the roads and farmlands for a six-mile stretch of State Route 82 leading into Bell Buckle...

The Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles cruised to a 10-0 victory in five innings to get the two-game series sweep over visiting Coffee County in a District 8-AAA match-up on Wednesday afternoon. The Eagles (2-2, 2-0 8-AAA) banged out a dozen hits while left-hander Trevor Sanders turned in a fine performance on the mound, getting the shutout in a two-hit effort with five strikeouts and only one walk...

CHAPEL HILL -- Cascade senior Heath Presley tossed a gem on Wednesday at Forrest, but couldn't get the needed run support as the Champions took a tough one on the chin, 3-1. Cascade got a solid effort from Presley who went four innings and allowed two run, neither of which were earned, against one hit and one walk...

Many frauds involve individuals being told to purchase Green Dot cards or send MoneyGrams at Walmart. Walmart itself became a victim on Monday. A caller claiming to be from Walmart's corporate offices cheated the Shelbyville store out of more than $1,700 Monday, police said...

A bag dropped by a man running from police Tuesday contained two types of illegal drugs, police said. Officers answering a domestic violence call on Carter Street saw a suspect running from the home, who "screamed 'I didn't do anything'" before outrunning police, officer Ronnie Blankenship's report said...

McMINNVILLE -- It was a rough Tuesday afternoon for the Shelbyville Central tennis teams at Warren County. Warren County swept a pair of matches, with the girls falling 6-2-1 while the boys fell 6-3. Girls In singles, Keely Smith picked up a win at the No. 1 spot for the Eaglette, defeating Katie Phillips, while Priscilla Morales was tied with Maegan Bates before their match was called...

LYNCHBURG -- Errors plagued the Liberty Lady Patriots on Wednesday at Moore County. Though Liberty out-hit the Raiderettes 7-4, Moore County took advantage of 16 Lady Patriot errors and claimed a 13-2 win. Gracie McCullough battled in the pitcher's circle and pitched the full game for Liberty, striking out six and allowing just two earned runs to cross the plate...

In Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader, the Cascade Middle Lady Champions rallied for the lead with a four-run third inning. Though the Forrest Lady Rockets eventually sent the game into extra innings, Forrest was able to push two runs across the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning to claim the 6-5 win...

UNIONVILLE -- Offense was in no short supply for the Community Middle Vikings on Tuesday night, hosting the Moore County Raiders. The two teams combined for 15 runs, with the Purple and Gold coming out on top, 9-6. Moore County took the early lead, scoring three in the top of the first, only to see Community answer with two in the bottom of the frame...

Margie Mae Sons, 92, of Shelbyville died Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at Glen Oaks Convalescent Center. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hillcrest Funeral Home with the Rev. Ronnie Adams officiating. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. Friday.