Stories from Sunday, January 28, 2018

Shelbyville Police Department has announced through social media that Jesse Caldwell has been taken into custody in Murfreesboro. Caldwell is suspected in the theft of another vehicle and several loaded handguns from a Forest Avenue home about 1:30 p.m. Friday...

Bedford County firefighters were called out on a half-acre brush fire in Deason Friday around 11 a.m. While encircling the blaze with water using a Bell Buckle brush truck the truck got stuck in the mud. After using manpower to try to get the truck moving, they employed a pickup with a chain but that also wasn't enough. They got the truck extricated using two pickups. The fire was on the east side of Highway 231 a little south of the intersection with Unionville-Deason Road....

Bedford County has nearly twice the number of non-native-speaking students as the rest of Tennessee, according to the latest state report card. English Learner Students, as they are called, make up 9.7 percent of Bedford County students, Assistant Superintendent Karen Scoggins told the Board of Education Tuesday. That is out of 8,631 students enrolled last year. The statewide number is 5.3 percent. Languages vary from different Spanish dialects to Swahili...

Dickie Gardner of Shelbyville has earned his 12th Spotted Saddle Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association Trainer of the Year award. Gardner, a member of the SSHBEA Hall of Fame, and his staff had another great year, showing 516 times, winning 105 blue ribbons and 15 sets of championship roses, including a Walking Horse Owners Association International Grand Championship and a World Championship at the Celebration...

There are a lot of great things happening in Tennessee and I am very proud to be able to help. Some of the great items are: •AAA Great bond ratings ( higher rating than the federal government) •Rated 2nd in Site Selection magazine’s annual Prosperity Cup, which ranks states based on overall tax and business climate...

A man was charged with two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly attacking a Lewis Avenue neighbor with a baseball bat Thursday. Derek Vaughn Wiley, 29, told police he was upset because the neighbor had called the Department of Children’s Services on him and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Crosslin, 24...

Shelbyville native Michael Thompson will conduct a free informational session on veteran’s benefits 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Scott United Methodist Church. Thompson, a retired veteran now living in Texas, said he is volunteering his time to share information about veterans benefits with those who might need it while traveling to Shelbyville to visit family. ...

Billy Hix, director of the Motlow College Foundation STEM Outreach program and newly appointed NASA Solar System Ambassador for 2018, visited East Side Elementary on Thursday with his portable planetarium. Hix was most complementary of the students, but also how the faculty, school administration and even office staff came inside the planetarium to help the students with reinforcing the lessons learned...

FRANKLIN — Webb coach Jeff Mitchell has known for a while that sophomore Keon Johnson is a special player. On Friday night at BGA, Johnson scored his 1,000th career point in a 37-point effort at BGA. “He’s a special player and a special scorer. He can do it in a variety of ways. He’s not just a jump shooter. He can drive it, he can rebound it, he can get it in transition. He’s so good at all those things, there’s so many opportunities for him to score,” Mitchell said...

LYNCHBURG — With a crucial District 8-A game on the line, and the game’s outcome anything but set in stone, Cascade junior Chay Chumley delivered for his team just when they needed him most. With the Raiders refusing to back down, Chumley delivered on a perfect 6 of 6 attempts from the line in the final 30 seconds to give Cascade the 57-52 win...

LAWRENCEBURG – A balanced scoring attack was beneficial in Shelbyville Central’s 49-37 win over Lawrence County matchup on Friday evening to remain atop the District 8AAA standings. Three Eaglettes scored in double digits while Shelbyville Central’s defense did a great job of keeping the Lady Wildcats in check for most of the game...

UNIONVILLE – The Community Vikings cut a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to two points late, but could not claim the lead as the Marshall County Tigers defeated the Vikings 80-78 in a District 12-AA contest Friday night. The Vikings had to battle the hot shooting of K. J. Johnson, who poured in 43 points for the Tigers...

UNIONVILLE – The Community Viqueens struggled to score for most of the game and a late comeback came up short as the Marshall County Tigerettes defeated the Viqueens 41-30 in a District 12-AA game Friday night. “We just can’t wait until the last three minutes of the game to decide to play offense,” Coach Corey Bishop of the Viqueens said. “I wasn’t totally disappointed with our defense, but we have got to get better offensively when somebody is pressuring us.”...

LAWRENCEBURG – It was a tough night on the road as Shelbyville Central fell 76-36 to sharp shooting Lawrence County in a District 8-AAA matchup on Friday night, The Wildcats nailed 10 3-pointers in the contest. Lawrence County led 24-16 at the end of the first quarter, 44-22 at the intermission and 67-30 after three periods...

LYNCHBURG — The Moore County Raiderettes just had too much firepower for the Cascade Lady Champions to match pace. On Friday night, the Raiderettes (17-5, 7-0) drilled 15 3-pointers and claimed a huge 90-46 District 8-A win over Cascade. Press works...

Picture books and crafts would not seem to provide a scientific educational moment for pre-school-age children at first glance, but Shelbyville-Bedford County Public Library's Storytime activities are based on well-documented research. The Shelbyville-Bedford County Public Library's Storytimes provide enrichment based on a national library model, said youth services librarian Lis Ann Morehart. ...

Carol Spray's cat Smokey loves to lay in boxes.

Excitement is building as we start the countdown for the Winter Olympics that will begin in South Korea on Feb. 8. I wonder what dazzling spectacles they have planned for the opening ceremonies? Personally, I really enjoyed the 2012 opening where Queen Elizabeth opened the festivities by parachuting into the stadium (or at least it seemed as if she had)! What a good sport she is!...

Our dog loves to run. Any chance Dreamy gets to sneak out the front door she takes off running. If one of my granddaughters opens the front door to let a friend into the house, Dreamy whizzes by them and down the block she goes. When she gets out she's in the habit of leaving our small subdivision and crosses busy 41A to go to Brad's Market where she begs for food. She can smell the burgers and sausages that they cook, and their scent is carried through their vent luring Dreamy to go running...

Eracleo and Berenise Velazquez of Shelbyville announce the birth of a son, Theo Anthony Velazquez, on Jan. 18 at St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro. The baby boy weighed 10 pounds, 12 oz. He is the grandson of Martin and Maria Elsa Macias, and Martin Velazquez and Juana Cervantes...

There's a great little daily inspirational calendar I've come to look forward to reading each morning this year. I can't exactly say the name of it, but the G-rated version of the name is "You Are A Bad (Butt)!" The daily message calendar is inspired by a really great book that's trending this year, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to revive their inner spunk...