Stories from Friday, July 28, 2017

Police confiscated a large number of unprescribed pills from a woman in the parking lot of a North Main Street restaurant Tuesday night. Ashley Rae Mullins, 26, of Soddy-Daisy was upset and asking customers for a ride to Crossville, police said. Officer Nathan Everhart found 76 Xanax and 13 Adderall tablets in her purse...

The Liberty Lions Club held its mid-year banquet on July 11.

Boy Scout Troop 699 spent five days on the Appalachian Trail to earn the Backpacking Merit Badge. Scouts backpacked a total of 39 miles from Neels Gap to Blue Mountain and back. As a service, the troop picked up litter along the way and carried out trash left by other hikers. From left are Stone Ralston, Bart Morton, Tayton Swift, Caleb Voorhes-Fontenot and Gage Ralston. Not pictured are leaders Robert Ralston and Austin Voorhes. (Submitted photo)

Justin Branum, a member of the Sons Of The Pioneers, will be a guest musician for the next two weeks at Wellspring, the alternative worship service which is being held this summer at First United Methodist Church on the square. The service, which takes place at 8:45 a.m., features a relaxed, come-as-you-are atmosphere, communion every week, and the music leaders include Jim and Inge Wood of Flat Creek, alongside First UMC’s music director Jon Brock and organist/pianist Lori Schuler. Branum decided to learn the fiddle at age 12 after seeing a parade float with several fiddlers in his home town of Belgrade, Montana. He evenutally moved to Nashville and became a successful musician and a protege of well-known fiddle player Buddy Spicher. He won the 2010 Grand National Championship Fiddle Contest and the 2015 Tennessee State Mandolin Contest. He joined the legendary Sons Of The Pioneers in preparation for their 2015 Canadian tour.

MURFREESBORO -- The Great Tennessee Eclipse at Middle Tennessee State University Aug. 21 will bring thousands of schoolchildren and other visitors to campus for the highly anticipated midday to early afternoon natural phenomenon. MTSU, the College of Basic and Applied Sciences and its Department of Physics and Astronomy will host a four-hour solar eclipse observing party. ...

The Times-Gazette won a number of Ideas Contest awards for Advertising & Circulation during the Tennessee Press Association Summer Conference in Franklin on July 21. "We're proud to have been recognized by our peers for doing a great job," said T-G display advertising manager Sissy Smith. "We work hard to promote our customers' messages, and help them brand their businesses and get the community involved."...

Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced Thursday that Tennessee high school students improved across all subject areas -- English, math, science, and U.S. history -- on the 2016-17 TNReady end-of-course exams. Thousands of additional students are meeting course expectations compared to last year, and the state reduced the percentage of students scoring at the lowest achievement level across all subject areas, according to a department press release...

Bedford County's growing population means more students walking the halls in schools. Even as the Bedford County Board of Education makes progress toward building a new Cascade High School, other capital projects are pressing needs, Superintendent Don Embry told the Times-Gazette Tuesday...

Community had two players earn match medalist honors on Tuesday, but came up short in the overall team score in a tri-match held at River Bend Country Club. The Vikings took second in the match with a 204 final score, while Columbia Academy finished first with a 177. Grayson Garrette carded the lowest round of the afternoon with a 38...

A year ago, Cascade leaned heavily on the efforts of then-senior Seth Gardner and then-freshman Jay Hall, both of whom made their marks on the Cascade offense. Fast forward a year, and Gardner has since graduated and Hall has decided to pursue other interests away from football...

Auston T. “Pinky” Davis, 87, of Shelbyville died Thursday, July 27, 2017. Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Sunday at Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church with the Rev. Jonathan Sims, Vicki Davis Layne, the Rev. Sherman Boyd, David Davis and the Rev. Bobby Moore officiating. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Saturday at Hillcrest Funeral Home.

Shirley Faye Frazier, 67, of Shelbyville died Thursday, July 27, 2017. Visitation with the family will be held 5-8 p.m. Sunday. Per her request she will be cremated.