Stories from Sunday, February 14, 2016

The annual "Triple C" competition -- chili, chicken and chocolate -- will take place Feb. 27 at The Fly Arts Center on South Main Street, and if you want to enter one of the three categories you have about a week left. Applications are due by Monday, Feb. 22...

MURFREESBORO -- Two Bedford County fire departments have received just more than $52,000 in donations from a charitable foundation. Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation donated the equipment to the Bell Buckle and WBTS volunteer fire stations. The foundation is the charitable arm of Firehouse Subs restaurants...

A Bedford County detective is receiving advanced training in fighting cybercrime against children. The Bedford County Sheriff's Office has been accepted as an affiliate member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Detective Tiffany Host, who works child abuse cases, will be the local contact working with the agency,...

Local horse trainer Dickie Gardner has racked up his 10th and 11th Trainer of the Year awards, which -- when combined with Crystal Deputy's Trainer of the Year honor in 2014 -- makes an even dozen for Dickie Gardner Stables. Gardner was named the Spotted Saddle Horse Breeders Exhibitors Association Trainer of the Year and the National Spotted Saddle Horse Association Trainer of the Year in 2015. ...

Starting with the May commencement ceremony, Middle Tennessee State University will begin a new tradition of holding a separate ceremony for grad students in the spring and fall. The first ceremony for the College of Graduate Studies will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, May 6, in Murphy Center, for those students earning their doctorate, master's and education specialist degrees...

East Side Elementary School is currently holding its spring book fair. Leading up to the event, students participated in an "All for Books" coin drive. The money collected goes towards books for the children's classrooms, and Scholastic, a book publisher, matches funds raised to send books to children who would not otherwise have books. Students worked very hard and raised a grand total of $1,489...

Members of the Farm Bureau Women watch as County Mayor Eugene Ray signs a proclamation declaring Feb. 15-19 as National Patriotism Week in Bedford County. The week is meant to encourage appreciation of America's freedoms and its many other assets. Standing, from left: Ann Spencer, Jo Anne Maloney, Rhonda Boyce (holding Easton Cassady) and Connie Crafton. (T-G Photo by John I. Carney)

A man who allegedly held a knife to a friend's throat and threatened to kill her Thursday night has been charged with aggravated domestic violence. Derek Skyler Sanders, 22, of Peacock Lane was described by others in the home as "extremely unstable...and very intoxicated," officer David Dye's report said...

Here's our look back at the past seven days in local news. Choose the best answer for each question. 1) What new local community project had recruited 80 volunteers as of last weekend? A. A community-wide litter pickup on March 4 B. A soup kitchen for the needy, to be conducted on a trial basis during Lent...

The Senate Education Committee, of which I am a member, approved major legislation this week to control the exponential growth in tuition at Tennessee's state colleges and universities. The Tennessee Tuition Stability Act limits tuition growth to increases in the consumer price index (CPI) and locks-in tuition for entering freshmen for four years...

The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others." -- John Locke The most talked about topic of the past week has been the school choice bill, better known as the voucher bill. This proposed legislation would allow children on free or reduced lunch that are attending the 5 percent worst schools in Shelby County to have a choice to attend an approved private school that would accept them...

Chuck Heflin is a member of the Bedford County Commission representing the fifth district. I have been questioned why do I oppose a wheel tax, to which I have answered... I oppose a large government and do not wish to give government another way to take my money...

Shelbyville Central was looking to gain a share of second place with visiting Lincoln County in District 8-AAA, as well as gain some momentum going into the postseason, in Friday night's game. The Eaglettes walked away with both after claiming an impressive 59-46 victory over the Lady Falcons in the final regular season contest on Senior Night...

On a night set aside to honor the seniors, it was a trio of juniors that came through for the Cascade Champions over the Class A No. 4 ranked Huntland Hornets. The Champions (18-5) sent seniors Austin Gentry, Dacota Newcomb and Lane Simpson off with a huge 65-45 win...

Shelbyville Central's Golden Eagles entered Friday's game with Lincoln County knowing a win would give them sole possession of third place in the District 8-AAA regular season standings. The Eagles responded with one of their most complete games of the season...

The Cascade Lady Champions battled, but couldn't match Huntland's effort down the stretch in a 62-48 loss on Senior Night. Huntland jumped out to an early lead, but nearing the end of the opening frame, Cascade managed to capture a slim lead. "This is a special night and we have two seniors on our team. Our girls wanted to come out and do something special for them. That's kind of why we were able to keep it close. Huntland is a good team," said Lady Champion coach Rece Chumley...

One of the many things I enjoy about my job is having the opportunity to write about books. Usually the books are from national publishers and writers. But sometimes the book comes from a talented, local writer. This column is about the latter -- actually, three of the latter...

Slow cookers are a match made in heaven for winter. They make great comfort food type meals that fill the house with delicious aromas that make you anticipate dinner for hours. The bonus is that they require just a little preparation but then cook unattended so they are great for beginning cooks as well as more experienced ones...

Am I the only one who has noticed an influx of advertisements promoting fresh avocados from Mexico lately? The first ad that caught my attention appeared during last Sunday's Super Bowl, and I thought it was cute and maybe it also appealed to me because I love the creamy, healthful super food -- key ingredient in guacamole -- that provides nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, vitamins E and B, and folic acid...

Love is the foundation of every relationship you will have. Love is the mission of every Christian. Yet love is often misunderstood. One pastor is on a mission to help people gain biblical insight into love. Dave Willis is the author of "The Seven Laws of Love: Essential Principles for Building Stronger Relationships" by Nelson Books. ...

Hope Kristen Howell and Justin Robert Jenne' were united in marriage in an intimate ceremony on Dec. 31. The bride is the daughter of Tim and Virginia Howell of Woodbury. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with a bachelor of business administration degree with an emphasis in accounting and also holds a masters of accounting degree. She is a certified public accountant with My CFO LLC...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! It's the time for romance to be in the air. I have often thought that it's pretty nifty that the Romance Writers of America give out the RITA awards for excellence in romantic fiction. I mean, think about it. The RITA award could have been for something like best or most ticket writing by a meter-maid. The awards aren't in my honor, but they certainly could have been because I have shelved enough romances in my time to fill several substantial buildings...

How do you define love? It's a pretty broad term. I say I love lots of stuff, such as pizza and reading on rainy days, but is love really the best way to describe my affection for cheese and tomato sauce? One of the most well known descriptions of love is found in the epistle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. I think about this particular letter on occasion because parts of it pop up on Facebook at least once a week...

When an elderly man died in a nursing home in Nebraska, people thought that he had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through his few possessions they came across the following poem. It impressed the nursing staff so much that copies were made and distributed to everyone who worked there...