Stories from Sunday, March 22, 2015

A visitor to the home of Sophia and Olivia Trujillo -- let's say, a newspaper reporter doing an interview -- might have trouble telling the two adorable 21-month-old girls apart. Both have winning smiles as they toddle around the living room with mother Melissa Trujillo. Each of them has a sippy cup, but they easily get swapped...

Attention, basketball players: Score a goal and save a life. First Baptist Church of Normandy will sponsor its third annual three-on-three basketball contest Friday and Saturday. The event, at Cascade High School, will benefit Turn on the Tap, a Samaritan's Purse program that provides water filters to people in the developing world...

Carriage House Inn and Heart Remembers hosted a prom for residents Friday afternoon. Ed Leichner swings his wife Joan around on the dance floor as part of the entertainment. Shelbyville Central High School's National Honor Society sponsored the program. (T-G Photo by Jason Reynolds)

Workers remove Regions Bank signs from the building on the west side of the Shelbyville square that has housed banks since the mid-1960s. The building, now owned by Bedford County, is becoming a home for government offices. (T-G Photos by Derrick Hill)...

Here's our look back at the past seven days in local news. Choose the best answer for each question. 1) A state commission recently approved $2.5 million in federal and state funding for what local facility? A. Bedford County Utility District water treatment plant...

The Cascade Middle Champions hosted the Liberty Patriots on Friday afternoon in a low scoring pitchers' duel. Patriot pitchers Grayson Tramel and Mason Landers went the distance, striking out 17 batters on no hits to knock off the Champs 3-0. Champs starting pitcher Colby Melson was also excellent, going four innings and only allowing one run on two hits and striking out seven...

Elizabeth Carter Greenberg of Atlanta and William Douglas Overton of Nashville are engaged. The bride-elect is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen C. Greenberg of Atlanta. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas O. Sturkie of Atlanta, Mr. and Mrs. William D. Smith Sr. of Marietta, Georgia, Mr. Isidore M. Greenberg of Fairfax, Virginia, and the late June Greenberg...

Six students from Bedford County joined about 300 of their high school peers at Middle Tennessee State University on March 9 to express their views on public education in Tennessee. The Student Congress on Policies in Education (SCOPE) event was sponsored by the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA)...

Community High School held a reception last Sunday afternoon for the Viqueen basketball team to honor its historic run to the Class A state tournament. (Submitted photo)

Bedford County Family & Community Education (FCE) Clubs held their annual achievement night on Thursday at the University of Tennessee / Tennessee State University Extension office on Midland Road. The program recognizes clubs and individual members for outstanding achievements...

The Shelbyville Garden club held its March meeting last Wednesday at the River Bend Country Club. Donna Simmons opened the meeting. Sandra Crowell read a poem about springtime and delivered the devotion. Loraine Sutton spoke on inspiring the younger generations to learn about and appreciate gardening, noting on how relaxing it is to get back to the earth. Sutton also announced she will be involved in an upcoming gardening show for a local cable channel...

Dear Editor, I, being a Bedford County taxpayer, have pondered for some time over elected city and officials making reckless and costly decisions with our tax dollars. It seems these elected "professionals" have free run with taxpayers' money, and are never held liable for all this wrongdoing. If we are compelled by law to pay taxes, our tax dollars should be protected by libelous decisions such as those both past and future...

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." -- Benjamin Franklin I wanted to let you know that God and the church are very alive at the State Legislature! We open each and every floor session with a prayer and a pledge. Also, each Wednesday morning at 7:30 AM, we have a devotional in one of our committee rooms and usually have a guest speaker bring us a great message. ...

Legislation returning millions of dollars to taxpayers in the form of road infrastructure improvements was approved by the Senate Transportation Committee this week. The "County Road Relief Act of 2015" changes the way Tennessee currently manages its State Aid Road Grant Program to make it easier for counties to access state funds to upgrade, repair and improve roads...

One of the most interesting ways to see the world is not to hop on a plane and set off to some foreign land, traversing into the unknown, but to spend an afternoon sitting on the back porch of two missionaries that have done just that. Mary Jane Miller and Suki Brannan of Normandy spent years traveling across the globe with an organization called Youth with a Mission, YWAM for short...

This week the T-G caught up with worship leader and avid fisherman, Zach Kirby. If you have any suggestions for an interesting Sunday Conversation email editor Sadie Fowler at sfowler@t-g.com. T-G: Tell us a little about your family...

The Shelbyville Garden club held its March meeting at the River Bend Country Club. Donna Simmons opened the meeting. Sandra Crowell read a poem about springtime and delivered the devotion. Loraine Sutton spoke on inspiring the younger generations to learn about and appreciate gardening, noting on how relaxing it is to get back to the earth. Sutton also announced she will be involved in an upcoming gardening show for a local cable channel...

Inside the Argie Cooper Library, a crowd of people is gathered around a table near the front entrance. Seated at that table, with a pile of books in front of her, is Sierra Rose Johanson, and it's her 16th birthday. While most 16-year-olds are busy dreaming about what type of car they might get, Johanson has spent the last couple of years dreaming up and working diligently to publish her first novel--which she is graciously signing for those gathered around her...

Friends and family members of Lucy (Arnold) Leggett gathered last weekend to celebrate a very special milestone. Leggett turned 100 years old -- not looking a day over 70 -- and a party in her honor, with well over 100 people in attendance, was held at Mt. Olivet Methodist Church Saturday, March 15...

I have made multiple visits to the doctor's office the last several months. Over and over again I've had bouts of bronchitis and stomach viruses, and the nurse gave me repeated shots of antibiotics and steroids, one in each butt cheek. It was uncomfortable to sit much of the time as my bottom was sore from the jab of needles...

It seems only fitting for me to give equal time to the flipside of the "March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb" proverb. Since I talked about lions last week, this week, with the vastly more agreeable weather, I am giving equal time to lambs. After all, lambs (and sheep) seem to play a rather large role in the childhood of most of us...

Heather McAmis and David C. Fry of Shelbyville are engaged. The bride-elect is the daughter of Rusty and Renee McAmis of Shelbyville. She is the granddaughter of the late Bill and Georgia Smith of Shelbyville and Lucille McAmis and the late Orville McAmis of Shelbyville...