Stories from Wednesday, October 28, 2015

FirstBank on Madison Street held a customer appreciation day on Friday, serving up hamburgers and hot dogs and giving away door prizes. (T-G Photos by John I. Carney)

Taco Plus & & Tortilleria Gonzalez, 519 Madison St., held a Shelbyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting on Thursday, Oct. 22. (T-G Photos by Jason Reynolds)

Missy Parsons of Homes of Hope of Bedford County holds a boy who is staying with her on a temporary basis. The boy, who cannot be named, is one of many children the organization helps find a temporary safe house to stay in while the family works through some sort of situation before reuniting. Parsons also holds a Duck Commander Faith and Family Bible" provided by Thomas Nelson Publishers in a partnership with the Times-Gazette. The Bible will be a door prize at Homes of Hope's annual Fall Dinner fundraiser Nov. 12 at Blue Ribbon Circle. Seats are $50, and table sponsorships with tickets are available. Their phone number is 931-205-6869. Parsons' email is hohobc@hotmail.com. (T-G Photo by Jason Reynolds)

The "Slippery When Wet" sign in the background tells the story. Peyton White, 17, of Charlotte Drive told Shelbyville police he lost control on slick pavement at a sharp curve on Glenoaks Road Tuesday afternoon. White escaped injury when his SUV slid into a drainage culvert at the home of Larry Perry. (T-G Photo by David Melson)

Verizon Wireless and Motorola introduced two new phones on Tuesday, including what they said was the first smartphone with shatterproof display, and what they said was the fastest-charging smartphone. I was all set to live stream the introduction, but the Internet failed me, and so I've had to rely on the news release and other reports...

Tyson Foods says it is increasing hourly pay at most of its U.S. chicken plants, but will not confirm which plants are affected. The company says the change, effective Nov. 1, is "an effort to boost employee recruiting and retention." Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson would not confirm whether the pay raise applied to the Shelbyville plant...

A Shelbyville man allegedly encouraged his underage girlfriend to participate in sexual activities with his dog, authorities said Tuesday. The suspect, Zachary Allen Berry, 25, of Moody Street was arrested Monday afternoon, Detective Lt. Jason Kennedy of the Bedford County Sheriff's Office said...

The Cascade Middle Lady Champions overcame an early-game scoring drought and fought tough with a fourth-quarter surge, but couldn't overcome the sluggish start in a 34-29 loss to the Forrest Middle Lady Rockets on Tuesday. After the first half of play, the Lady Champions stared at a 20-8 deficit, but was able to get the offensive wheels moving...

It was a little closer than Monday night, but nevertheless the Cascade Middle Champions notched their second double figure win of the week, defeating Forrest Middle 50-34. For the second night in a row, the Champions were able to claim the win by placing three into double figures...

UNIONVILLE -- The Community Middle Vikings were effective from the outside and inside both in defeating the Huntland Hornets 38-25 Tuesday night. With Alex Mitchell and Adam Patterson each scoring six points, the Vikings jumped out early and ended the first quarter with a 14-5 lead...

UNIONVILLE -- The Community Middle Viqueens could not overcome five three-pointers from the Huntland Lady Hornets in a 34-31 overtime defeat Tuesday night. Both teams were able to take advantage of several scoring runs in the game. The Viqueens (4-2) started the game with a 6-0 run, but the Lady Hornets answered with a 7-0 run of their own...

An impressive defensive effort paved the way as Liberty's Lady Patriots rolled to a 34-7 win over visiting Fayetteville City on Tuesday night. Liberty's defense held its opponent scoreless in thee of the four quarters. Kaylee Adams helped the Lady Patriots (4-1) jump out to a 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter by scoring eight of her game-high 15 points...

A low-scoring second quarter proved to be the difference as Liberty's Patriots came up on the short end of a 45-37 score to visiting Fayetteville City on Tuesday night. After leading 15-14 at the end of the opening frame, the Patriots (3-2) were outscored 11-4 in the second stanza to trail 25-19 at the intermission...

Cassie Simmons of Longview and Matthew Mosley of Unionville announce their engagement. The bride-elect is the daughter of Frank and Kim Simmons of Longview. She is the granddaughter of Eugene and Annie Cunningham of Shelbyville and the late John and Helen Simmons...

Dani Rae Fowler waits for the next activity to begin at the School Age Care Program as Bedford County schools took time for a short fall break. (T-G Photo by Jim Davis)

Bedford County Arts Council hosted a pizza party Monday night for members of the local theater community, to encourage greater participation in organizing and planning productions at the Fly Arts Center. Theater productions at The Fly, such as the recent "Don't Drink The Water" and a forthcoming Christmas dinner theatre, are overseen by a theatre committee reporting to the Arts Council...

When Bedford County Sheriff's Office advertised for a new five-ton central heat and air conditioning unit, one of the three bidders told the sheriff's office that even though the previous unit had been five tons, that really wasn't sufficient for the size of the building...

Shelbyville's council voted Tuesday to use existing brick pavers in some manner on the future design of the public square by changing the language of an application to the state. The council also approved revised wording to reflect that the square is in the National Register of Historic Places...

Karen Renee Ferrell, 56, of Shelbyville died Wednesday, October 28, 2015. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Sunday at Feldhaus Memorial Chapel with the Rev. Ray Armstrong officiating. Burial will follow at Iconium Cemetery in Woodbury. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Saturday.