Stories from Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Rufo Santos Arellano, 72, of Shelbyville died Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Saturday at St. William Catholic Church with Father Louis Rojas officiating. Burial will follow at Willow Mount Cemetery. Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Friday at Hillcrest Funeral Home.

Capt. Edward Lane Alderman, USN, 91, of Brentwood, a Wartrace native, died Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017. A memorial service will be 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1 at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville.

John Phillip Thomes, 76, died Sunday, September 17, 2017 in Tullahoma. A memorial service will be 4 p.m. Friday, September 29 at Feldhaus Memorial Chapel.

Bedford County officials believe they can cover the increased cost of a big-enough justice center without another tax increase. The project was discussed Tuesday night by the county's Financial Management Committee. The county approved a new jail and justice center, to be located on Harts Chapel Road, in the summer of 2016, and approved borrowing just under $30 million to fund it, raising that money through a property tax increase which wasn't very popular with some citizens...

Big Smo applied his celebrity Tuesday morning to help the Middle Tennessee Spay and Neuter Clinic raise funds to purchase a van. Smo appealed to his half-million Facebook followers with a video tour of the clinic. "If all my kinfolk (as he calls his fans) could throw in a dollar to help our community clinic, we could make such an amazing difference in these animals & their owners lives," he wrote on his Facebook page - The Real Big Smo...

One month after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, motorists are finally seeing consistent declines in gas prices. At $2.56, Tuesday's national average is down four cents from Monday but still higher than the average of $2.35 a month ago, AAA reports...

Sally Palmer of the Nature Conservancy shows a fresh water mussel Tuesday to students. The annual Duck RiverFest provides fifth-graders from all local public schools a chance to learn about different aspects of the river, from wildlife to conservation to waste water treatment. Also pictured is Corey Giles of the Nature Conservancy. More photos will run in Sunday’s Times-Gazette. (T-G Photo by Jason M. Reynolds)

The Shelbyville Woman's Club held their September meeting at River Bend Country Club and were treated to a presentation of new products and their uses by Dena Landers of Shelbyville's Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio. Landers began by giving a history of Merle Norman, founded by its namesake in her kitchen in 1931. The company is still family owned. One of the things that sets this company apart is that the customer can try a product before buying it...

Five bags of crystal meth were found in the possession of a Tullahoma man arrested on Winding Way near Normandy early Monday. Michael Dale Cyree, 42, aroused the suspicion of a resident after allegedly asking to use his phone while carrying a glowing, working cell phone shortly before 6 a.m. Cyree and a companion, who was not arrested, told Deputy Jared Featherstone of the Bedford County Sheriff's Office they were seeking tools to fix a flat tire...

Atmos Energy topped J.D. Power's 2017 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study, ranking number one in the south region's pool of utilities serving 400,000 or more residential customers. "This ranking demonstrates that our continued focus on safety resonates with our customers. ...

The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee recognized Ascend Federal Credit Union as an exceptional conservation partner and supporter with the Partners In Conservation Award presented on Sept. 21 at Ascend’s fall Board of Directors meeting in Murfreesboro...

Shelbyville Central’s Golden Eaglettes fell 5-0 to talented Oakland in a non-district soccer match at home on Tuesday evening. The Lady Patriots scored four goals in the first half and added another in the second. “Oakland has a very good team and are very well coached,” Central coach Neal Gordon said. “Overall, it wasn’t a horrible performance as the final score might indicate. We found some things we still need to work on but we also did some things pretty well in this game.”...

MANCHESTER — It was a successful first day of the TSSAA Small Division state golf tournament, held at WillowBrook Golf Club. Three Bedford County athletes represented Cascade and Community High Schools in the event. For Cascade, freshman Chandler Noel and junior Oscar Westh-Blanc each had a successful day on the links...

The Webb School had quite the afternoon in its district tournament held at River Bend Country Club. After a full day on the links, the entire Lady Feet team advanced to the region tournament, with three members of the Feet qualifying as well. Vilda Westh-Blanc led the Lady Feet with 79, while Kennedy Miller carded a 117 a well...

CULLEOKA — After dropping two-straight for the first time this season, the Community Viqueens got back in the win column on Tuesday evening with a three-set sweep at Culleoka. The Viqueens started off with a 25-16 Set 1 win, and followed up with a 25-15 Set 2 win...

CHAPEL HILL — It was a rough evening for the Community Viqueen soccer squad, who came up short in a 2-1 loss at Forrest on Tuesday night. Neither team could break through the opposition’s defense, leaving the score tied at nil in the first half. Though Forrest found the back of the net first, Gabby Doyle scored on a penalty kick at the 20 minute mark in the second half to even the score at 1-1...

After trailing by two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter against Franklin Classical, the Webb Feet rallied for a 50-48 victory to improve to 3-1 on the season after its game on Friday night. Greg Kilpatrick was the spark for Webb, completing 22 of 35 passing attempts for 257 yards and a pair of touchdowns...