Stories from Sunday, March 19, 2017

About six weeks ago -- can it have been that long? -- I wrote in these pages about electric pressure cookers. The story was written just a few days after my own pressure cooker arrived, and I'd only gotten to try it for a few different recipes. The dish I photographed for the paper, spaghetti cooked in the sauce, turned out horribly, because I ignored part of the instructions in order to get a dramatic photo of dry spaghetti being dumped into the pot...

“Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?” may be a line from a nursery rhyme, but could also lead one to thinking about gardening given that spring starts Monday. Now is the time to plan for gardening and yard work, one expert says. Some cool-weather veggies can be planted, but it’s too soon for summer crops, said Lorraine Sutton of M&L Greenhouse...

There’s hazardous waste in your home. Yes, your home. And next weekend, you can get rid of it. A household hazardous waste collection event will be held 8 a.m. until noon Saturday at Big Springs Shopping Center. The event allows private citizens to dispose of household chemicals which, by law, are considered hazardous and which aren’t supposed to be sent to the landfill with regular garbage...

Shelbyville Central’s Golden Eaglettte softball team saw an early lead slip away in a 9-3 loss to visiting Coffee County in a District 8AAA matchup on Friday evening. The Eaglettes (1-1, 0-1 8AAA) led 3-0 after three innings but Coffee County rallied for seven runs in the fifth and added two more in the sixth while retiring Shelbyville Central in order the final four innings...

UNIONVILLE – There was plenty of offense Friday night as the Community Vikings scored in every inning to come from behind and defeat the Lancaster Christian Knights 20-14 in a non-district baseball clash. “It turned into a hit-a-thon for awhile,” Coach Robbie Davis of the Vikings said. “We were throwing it to their bats, and they were throwing it to our bats.”...

Offense was on prime display on Friday night between county rivals Community and Liberty. Though both teams were able to score early, in the end it was Liberty who was able to churn out a steady stream of offense in an 8-4 win on Friday evening. Both teams knocked in runs in the first inning, but Liberty was able to sustain the offense and plated two more in the bottom of the second frame...

When the 40th annual Daffodil Day got underway at 10 a.m. Saturday clouds threatened to dampen the celebration — but, one hour later, the sky cleared and the sun lit up the day devoted to celebrating Bell Buckle’s beauty. The community is usually alight with daffodils in late February and March but this year’s unseasonably warm temperatures had resulted in an early bloom. The daffodils of Bell Buckle bloomed in January and the blossoms were gone before the festival...

A trailblazing athlete will deliver the dual keynote address for Middle Tennessee State University’s Women’s History Month and Black History Month celebrations. Former four-time boxing world champion Laila Ali will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. This event is free and open to the public. A printable campus parking map is available at tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap...

Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in. — Andrew Jackson The highlight of my week was getting to see President Trump Wednesday in Nashville. The Speaker of the House, Beth Harwell, made arrangements for all House members to have an upfront seat at the President’s speech at the Hermitage. ...

A knife wound sent a Shelbyville man to a Nashville hospital Thursday night. Cory McKissack told police he suffered what is described as a “large cut” to his left bicep during an argument with his girlfriend Alexis Eileen Brooks, 23, at her Edgeview Drive home...

Shelbyville native William L. “Bill” Sanders died Thursday, March 16. He was 74. Sanders was a statistician and researcher who developed Tennessee’s system for evaluating teachers and schools. He was the 2015 recipient of the James Bryant Conant Award, one of the nation’s most prestigious education honors. ...

Stephen Gallagher graduated from MTSU in 2004 with a degree in marketing and for a year he ventured out into the workplace as an information technology sales rep. After one year in sales, however, Gallagher decided to come home to Wartrace to work for less money in the family business -- building guitars. He is the third generation of the family to run Gallagher Guitar Co...

Sophie Anne Vines of Gosport, England and Austin Chase Bruce of Normandy announce their engagement. The bride-elect is the daughter of Jeanette and Wayne Goodwin-Weir of Gosport, England, and Michael and Amanda Vines of Shelbyville. She is the granddaughter of the late Peter and Anne Vines, and Janet and William Goodwin, Leicester, England...

I write about random things that often strike my thought waves at some point on Wednesday mornings when I'm getting ready for work, knowing one of the first tasks of the day is to write this very column. If there's any loose theme to my column, I'd say it's often tied in to plain, old, boring, simple -- ever-so-complicated -- life...

Let's take another stroll around the library. First stop is the computer room. We are pleased with the new photocopy machine. It produces beautiful images in both color and black and white. You can print directly from any of our 16 public use computers to this new coin-operated printer right there in the computer room. No more having to come out to the circulation desk and stand in line to get your copies. Color copies are $1 per page and black-and-white copies cost .20 each...

I just celebrated another birthday this month, and my granddaughters think I am old. But they know that Nana is older, and that makes her the boss. Someone once said this in regards to getting old, "Aging gracefully is about enjoying life. For example, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt."...

The Beta Nu Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma held its monthly meeting March 6 at Shelbyville Central High School. Guest speaker James Anderson, senior vice president of Anderson Asset Management, was introduced by Donna Green. His topics included saving for children and grandchildren's college fund, long term health insurance, and the rising stock market and how it affects the average individual. A wide variety of questions were asked by society members...

Aaron Shust has achieved another first. The award-winning CMA artist has released his first live recording album, "Love Made a Way." It is his eighth full-length album overall. His label, Centricity Music, wanted the live recordings. "That's petrifying," he said. "There's something inviting and welcoming about going into the studio, and if you make mistakes, you just do it again. And so there's something exciting about a live record."...