Stories from Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Herman L. Crabtree, 85, of Shelbyville, died Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at St. Thomas Rutherford. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Doak-Howell Funeral Home with David C. Baker officiating. A gathering of family and friends will follow until 3 p.m.

Patsy "Pat" Cook Pollock Taylor, 68, of Shelbyville died Tuesday, March 22, 2016, at Tennova Healthcare-Shelbyville. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Gowen-Smith Chapel. Burial will follow at Willow Mount Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Friday and beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Margaret Sons Brawley Wiser, 80, of Shelbyville died Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Graveside services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Bomar Cemetery with Don Gallagher and Jason Arnold officiating. Visitation will be from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Hillcrest Funeral Home.

Mark Powell Hawkins, 75, of Fairfield died Wednesday, March 23, 2015. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Fairfield Church of Christ with Jeff Collett and Darrell Blankenship officiating. Burial will follow at the Hawkins Farm Cemetery. Visitation will begin at 11 a.m. at the church. Hillcrest Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

A discarded shower door converted into an outdoor mosaic.

Motlow State Community College led the state's colleges this semester in retaining Tennessee Promise scholarship students, data show. The college tied for first with a retention rate of 87 percent, said President Dr. Anthony Kinkel, citing Tennessee Board of Regents data. Jackson State Community College also ranked at 87 percent...

Bedford County Financial Management Committee voted Tuesday night to recommend that the county continue its participation in the dead livestock removal program as is, even though one county commissioner believes limits should be placed on it. The program, at county expense, provides free pickup of the carcasses of dead livestock. ...

When Bedford County Trustee Tonya Davis had a telephone message to call the Times-Gazette, she thought the newspaper might be seeking some sort of comment about the county's tax collections or finances. Instead, she was one of four people randomly selected from among the correct respondents as a winner in our "Count The Basketballs" contest. Davis won a $50 Visa gift card donated by The Russell Center, one of the sponsors of the contest...

"Doctor Who" is moving to Amazon Prime. That is to say, reruns of the popular BBC series, which had previously been available on Netflix and Hulu, are now moving exclusively to Amazon Prime and its video streaming service. Original episodes will still air on BBC America, as they have been doing...

Arnold Engineering Development Complex Commander Col. Rodney Todaro (left) presents the Exemplary Civilian Service Award to the T-11 Test Facility Return-to-Service Team who includes (from left): Michael Lazalier, Propulsion Plant Asset manager; Ashley Colvin, Aeropropulsion Instrumentation, Data and Controls engineer; and Devon Parker, senior manager with Test Facility Planning. The award was to recognize the engineering leadership of an integrated Air Force and ATA team during the restoration of the Engine Test Facility test cell T-11 at less than 15 percent of the estimated cost. (U.S. Air Force photo by Holly Fowler)

Los Angeles pastor Chad Veach directs readers away from clichéd Sunday school answers to life's toughest questions such as "Where was God?" and "How could God allow this?" Such answers fail to provide true comfort or build up faith. Veach uses God's promises in the Bible and from his daughter's diagnosis with a debilitating disease to show simple, purposeful steps to deal with pain. ...

Here is a rundown of some of the special Easter weekend activities taking place at local churches and other organizations. This list doesn't include regularly-scheduled Sunday morning worship services. See Friday's church news column for more details:...

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

The Tennessee Department of Correction is accepting applications for the spring 2016 Citizens' Correctional Academy. The academy is a four week/six session program designed to give Tennesseans an in-depth look at the state's largest law enforcement agency. Classes will be held every Tuesday evening during the month of May in Nashville...

Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen unveiled on Tuesday a roster of state business, education, and community leaders to serve on the Career Forward Task Force, a group designed to examine and explore ways to better engage students in their academic preparation, personal and social development, and workplace readiness...

A new book asks you to consider what your life would be like if you could harness the extreme faith you experience in crises during the mundane moments of your life. The book is "Ridiculous Faith: Experience the Power of an Absurdly, Unbvelievably Good God." The author is Shelene Bryan, author of "Love, Skip, Jump." Nelson Books is the publisher. The release date is next Tuesday...

Motlow State Community College staff members are putting the wheels in motion to reconnect with prospective adult students who have completed some college courses but have yet to complete enough to graduate. This effort is part of Tennessee Reconnect, which is crucial to Gov. Bill Haslam's Drive to 55 campaign, an initiative that aims to ensure that at least 55 percent of the state's population holds a college degree or certificate by the year 2025...

The Sulphur Springs FCE Club met at the home of Betty Davis for their February meeting. President Renee Kimbrell called the meeting to order and thanked Betty Davis for being hostess. Sabrenia Heard from Ardmore, Alabama, was a guest. Business discussed included the treasurer's report from Betty Davis and minutes from Mary Ann Davis. ...

After suffering a 7-1 loss at Lancaster Christain on Monday night, Champion coach Brandon Bassham challenged his team to regain its focus. Message received. Cascade answered its coach's challenge on Tuesday afternoon, defeating Lancaster Christian 7-1...

A three-run fourth inning backed by a fine pitching performance by left-hander Trevor Sanders lifted Shelbyville Central's Golden Eagles to a 3-1 victory over visiting Tullahoma in a District 8-AAA matchup on Tuesday evening. Game 2 of the two-game series will be played tonight at 6 in Tullahoma...

The Shelbyville Central tennis teams split their second set of matches in two days, with the Eaglettes claiming another 7-0 win, while the Eagles fell 5-2 to visiting Columbia. Eaglettes Tuesday's match marked the second-straight sweep for the Eaglettes...

UNIONVILLE ­-- The Community Vikings bounced back twice with big innings early to cut into a deficit against the Forrest Rockets, but could not score over the last four innings as the Rockets prevailed 10-6 in a District 9-A contest Tuesday night. The Vikings (0-8, 0-2 9-A), with only three seniors on the squad, fought back against the senior-laden Rocket team...

UNIONVILLE -- The Community Viqueens have had a pretty good run to start the 2016 season so far. Not much changed on Tuesday against MTCS. Community (5-0, 2-0 9-A) got quality hitting and a dominating performance by starter Karla Pena in a 13-0 drubbing of MTCS...

WOODBURY -- The Webb School nearly swept Cannon County in both the Feet and Lady Feet's team matches on Tuesday afternoon. Feet The Feet claimed a 7-0 win over Cannon County, while the Lady Feet notched a 6-1 team victory over the Lionettes. The Feet participated in just three matches, with Andrwe Cooper defeating Austin Brock, 8-1, while Bennett Eng defeated Treyton Fann 8-2...

FAYETTEVILLE -- Not much went against the Liberty Lady Patriots on Tuesday night at Fayetteville. The Lady Patriots scored in each of the first three innings and coasted to a 17-0 shutout win over the Lady Tigers. Liberty plated nine runs in the first, six in the second, and two in the third...

The Liberty Patriots picked up their second win in two days on Tuesday afternoon, defeating visiting Lincoln County 9-4. A four-run third inning by the Patriots proved to be the difference in the five-run, non-district victory. Dylan Norris got the start and the win for Liberty, pitching four innings...