Stories from Wednesday, March 25, 2015

I wrote here last week about the prospects for the Apple Watch, and I mentioned the Samsung Galaxy Gear and the Pebble as competitors. Well, long-time PC Magazine columnist John C. Dvorak writes at the PC Magazine web site that he considers the Microsoft Band a great value in this category...

Motorists should expect traffic on North Main Street to be slow, as crews have closed off lanes north of Colloredo Boulevard in anticipation of more digging. Crews reduced the traffic flow from four to two lanes, with a middle turn lane provided. The closures had already been in place south of Colloredo...

Bedford County commissioners are looking for advice about how to meet the county's needs -- such as a new jail and a new Cascade High School. The issue of how to pay for major capital expenditures was on the minds of the county's Financial Management Committee, which met Tuesday night...

Firefighter safety was stressed at a seminar held Monday night at Shelbyville Central High School, attended by several dozen firefighters. Dewey V. Woody Jr. of Tennessee Emergency Management Agency presented the program, which was hosted by Bedford County Fire Department...

Dicky Thorpe of Shelbyville competed in the ninth annual Louisiana Regional & State Chili Cookoff this month in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The event was sanctioned by the International Chili Society. Thorpe, who lives in Shelbyville and is a supervisor at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, won the red chili division of the International Chili Society's Tennessee state championship cookoff last summer on the Shelbyville square. He went on to compete in the ICS's world championship cookoff in Las Vegas. He also competed in the 48th Annual Original Terlingua International Frank X. Tolbert - Wick Fowler Championship Chili Cookoff. Thorpe and his "Tennessee Hillbilli Chili" failed to win any awards in Louisiana, although he said both his red and green chili entries earned some points. But he had a good time and got to both meet new friends and reconnect with friends from previous ICS cookoffs. (Submitted photos)

Three collectible "lifelike baby dolls," a bracelet, wash rags and $50 were stolen from a Corner Mill Road home between March 3-6, the Bedford County Sheriff's Department was told Wednesday. No signs of forced entry were found. The tractor-trailer driver accused of pushing a car across Madison Street at Deery Street last June has been jailed after failing to appear for a court date...

Tennessee College of Applied Technology -- Shelbyville will host an open house from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday for area adults to sign up for the Tennessee Reconnect grant, a new program that allows Tennesseans to attend a technical college tuition free...

Bedford County Democratic Party held its biennial reorganization convention on Monday at the Shelbyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce. The convention was held as mandated by the Tennessee Democratic Party for the election of officers and executive committee members, as well as the adoption of bylaws...

The Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes rolled to a 10-0 victory in six innings over visiting Lawrence County in a District 8-AAA on Tuesday night. The Eaglettes (4-1, 4-1 8-AAA) hammered out 10 hits and didn't commit an error. Senior Alexis Larion belted a two-run home run over the left field fence to go along with a triple and double and four RBI's in three trips to the plate...

The Cascade Champions fell behind visiting Cannon County on Tuesday early in the first half and could have laid down. But they didn't. The Champs erased a 2-0 halftime deficit and battled back to a 4-4 draw against the visiting Lions. Trailing 2-0 at halftime, Champion coach Zane Perry made a handful of adjustments and gave his team a pep talk that made an immediate impact on the game...

PULASKI -- Make it a sweep for the Cascade Champions. The Champs (7-2, 2-0 12-AA) opened the 2015 district season with a 4-0 win over Giles County on Monday night and followed with another shutout performance in a 6-0 win over the Bobcats on Tuesday...

CULLEOKA -- The Community Viking soccer team claimed a 5-1 win Tuesday at Culleoka. The Vikings got a pair of goals from Andrew Clausell, and one goal apiece from Alejandro Pompa, Erly Anica and Zach Greenwood. Pompa and Clausell also added a pair of assists, while Doh Probpan added one...

UNIONVILLE -- The Community Viqueens came from behind to take a fifth inning lead, but eight runs in the last two innings, aided by four Viqueen errors, gave the Eagleville Lady Eagles a 9-3 win in a District 9-A softball game Tuesday night. The Viqueens (3-5, 1-4 9A) threatened to score in both the first and third innings, but came up empty both times...

BELL BUCKLE -- Minus a few defensive breakdowns at the end of the game it was all positivity for The Webb School Feet as they easily defeated the visiting Franklin County Rebels 7-2 on Tuesday night. "Overall, the flow of the game was really positive and the boys didn't give up. It took awhile to get the first goal and the second goal, but they just kept working until they did," head coach Karla Vogt said...

NASHVILLE -- Just about everything went Cascade's way when the Lady Champs traveled to CPA on Tuesday night. The Lady Champs belted out 18 runs on 16 hits while senior pitcher Summer Carter tossed a one-hit gem in the shutout victory. The win marked Cascade's second District 12-AA win of the season, following the 4-1 win over Marshall County on Monday night...

COLUMBIA -- It was another split for the Shelbyville Central tennis squads on Tuesday afternoon at Columbia. The Eaglettes claimed a 7-0 win over the home team, while the Eagles suffered a 7-0 loss. Keely Smith, Sydney Cooper, Arin Harwell and Priscilla Morales each claimed an 8-3 singles victory over their Lady Lion opponents, while Madison Brown had the hardest-fought victory...

The Cascade Middle Lady Champions capitalized on 12 Fayetteville City errors and connected for 11 hits in an 18-3 blowout Tuesday. Cascade was opportunistic at the plate, yet managed to put the bat on the ball for 11 hits in the victory. Kailey Snell led the Lady Champions with a perfect night, going 4-for-4 with four runs driven in...

HUNTLAND -- In what was a sloppy game by both Community Middle and Huntland, who combined for 15 errors, Huntland was able to capitalize on a seven-run fourth inning and fend off a pesky Viqueen squad, 8-7 on Tuesday night. Although the Viqueens took the tough one on the chin, Community managed to out-hit the Lady Hornets 10-5, with Brianna Beech's 3-for-4 night leading the Purple and Gold...