Stories from Sunday, April 24, 2016

There was a great turnout at the Normandy Fire Department Chili Supper on Saturday, April 16. Folks from all around gathered at the fire hall to show their support at the annual tradition, held since the mid-1980s. "We expect to feed around 200 people," said Normandy fire chief Ricky Prince. "It's all you can eat and drink for $5 and all of the proceeds go towards the Normandy Fire Station in order to help fund maintenance on the trucks, repairs to the station, or even paying a utility bill."...

Charles Henry Marlin, 77, died Sunday, April 17, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, April 25 at Nelson & Sons Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow at Willow Mount Cemetery. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m.

Kristen Swing and Wendell "Zack" Smith of Shelbyville announce their engagement. The bride-elect is the daughter of Phillip and Karen Swing of Shelbyville. She is the granddaughter of Ray and Louise Gilliland, and the late Claude and Marie Swing, all of Shelbyville...

Last Sunday, I was sitting on my back porch and enjoying the near perfect weather when a friend of mine came over. This is the friend with whom I share all my weird ideas about the universe. Don't we all have one of those? If you don't, you should, because they are great. I think we all have strange ideas and it's important to acknowledge those...

I recently interviewed Christian Contemporary Music artist Plumb. Plumb is embarked on the Beautiful Offerings Tour with Big Daddy Weave and Jordan Feliz. In 2015 she released her seventh album, "Exhale." The producer was Matt Brownlee, an original member of Jars of Clay...

I was driving across a lonely stretch of highway on the Navajo Reservation in northern Arizona when a herd of sheep suddenly appeared from behind an outcropping of rocks on the right side of the road. I stopped to allow the sheep to cross the road in front of me, but they just kept coming...

"Winter is coming!" Today is the day that "Game of Thrones" fans have been waiting for with great excitement. Is John Snow really dead? Can that be? This super-popular television series begins its sixth season tonight. The TV show is a dramatization of a planned seven novel series written by George R.R. Martin entitled "Song of Fire and Ice." The first five novels have been completed and can be found here at the library. Begin your adventure with "Game of Thrones."...

Iris Pierce, 93, who teaches watercolor classes at the Senior Citizens Center, has an exhibit of her work and her students' at Shelbyville-Bedford County Public Library now through May 3. "I've been painting, off and on, all my life," said Pierce, who got more serious about the hobby at age 70 -- two decades ago. She started teaching four or five years ago...

Kyle Burnett jumps rope. He runs on a treadmill. He lifts weights. He does squats. He can "use just about every machine," at MG Sports & Fitness, he says. Kyle says he's working on improving his dancing. Call Kyle, 19, a typical hard-working young man...

LAWRENCEBURG -- The Shelbyville Central tennis squads each added another district win on Friday evening, with the Eagles defeating Lawrence Co. 6-1 and the Eaglettes winning with a 7-0 sweep. For the Eagles, it was a strong singles showing that saw the team take a handful of close matches...

Senior right-hander Wesley Griggs picked up the win on the mound and helped his cause at the plate in Shelbyville Central's 4-1 non-district victory over Giles County on Friday evening. Griggs only allowed one run and four hits in five innngs of work and backed that effort with a RBI double and RBI single in three at-bats...

BELL BUCKLE -- The Community Vikings scored 10 runs in the first four innings en route to an 11-2 victory over the Webb Feet in an intra-county baseball game Friday. The Vikings (15-13) banged out 13 hits in backing up starting pitcher Spencer Smith, who allowed just one hit in five innings of work...

"A great accomplishment shouldn't be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward." -- Harvey Mackay We finished the 2016 legislative session on Friday, April 22nd. We passed about 1,200 bills over the course of the four months and passed a $34.8 billion balanced budget. ...

Calvary Baptist Church hosted a prayer luncheon on Friday, with singer, author and speaker Johnathan Bond, seen here, as the program. Bond, a former member of the group Young Harmony, lost his grandfather on Thursday, the day before the luncheon, and planned to travel home to be with his family immediately following the luncheon. The Rev. Tom Henry, pastor at Calvary, welcomed a number of local elected officials to the luncheon. (T-G Photo by John I. Carney)

Thursday's rain showers provided a drink of water to these thirsty flowers at Our Town Park on the square. (T-G Photos by Jason Reynolds)

Three people were arrested for allegedly shoplifting items from Dollar General Market, North Main Street, Thursday morning. Store personnel told police they saw Melissa Ann Littrell, 30, of Woodbury opening items on a shelf and placing them into her purse. As they detained her when she attempted to leave they saw Alyssa Charlene Rudder, 27, of Manchester attempting to dump items from her purse, checked it and found some allegedly-stolen items inside, police said...

Here's our look back at the past seven days in local news. Choose the best answer for each question. 1) What is "The Big Payback"? A. A grant program to benefit volunteers who have worked hard for the community B. A multi-level marketing scheme which was criticized by the state consumer affairs office...

U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais expressed his support of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry during an appearance with local Republicans Thursday night. DesJarlais was the keynote speaker for Bedford County Republican Party's annual Reagan Day dinner at the Blue Ribbon Circle on the Celebration grounds...

If you're going to run 41.2 miles, it takes a lot of preparation. But 6.2 miles doesn't take quite as much. That's why Gary Cantrell knows about how many runners he'll have for the annual Strolling Jim 40 ultra-marathon on May 7 but is less certain about the 10K which takes place at the same time. Many 10K runners may wait until the last minute to register...

Celebration City Car Club's monthly Cruise-Ins kicked off for the warm season Friday night on the Shelbyville square. Among attention-getting vehicles was the just-completed "Moonshiner" built by Louis Maxwell of Unionville, seen describing the home-built truck to passersby...

Melba Smith Henry, 87, of Shelbyville died Saturday, April 23, 2016 Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Hillcrest Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be Monday from 4-8 p.m.

Baseball great Yogi Bera was famous for saying, "It's like déjà vu, all over again." That sentiment could apply to Tennessee students and educators, as the state has experienced its third strike with TNReady. The Tennessee Department of Education notified school systems Thursday that districts were not yet receiving their TNReady Part II materials on time for grades 3-8, the education blog Chalkbeat reported...