Stories from Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Friends, You may be aware that various adult groups, including the NEA, are exploiting school children to promote a particular political agenda regarding guns. These groups have announced their intention to encourage students to walk out of classrooms on March 14 and again on April 20, at 10 a.m., for 17 minutes.

To the Editor: Shelbyville Loves helped to organize the resistance to racism in Shelbyville last October. At a recent rally we addressed the differences we have with the racist immigration policies of the Trump administration and the Republican majority in Congress...

The Fire Hall fundraiser had Bell Buckle glowing Saturday night, with participants dressed up in their finest Mardi Gras apparel. The event raised $4,200 to go towards renovating the old fire hall to house the Chief Elkins Museum. The fundraiser was hosted by the Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce and featured the Horse Mountain String Band and late fire chief James Elkins' original 1950 Chevrolet fire truck...

School security was briefly mentioned during Tuesday's Board of Education meeting in light of the recent Kentucky and Florida school shootings. School board member and Shelbyville police detective Brian Crews asked the Central Office for a report on security issues during a board retreat next month...

The long awaited return of Eaglepalooza is near. After a four-year hiatus, Eaglepalooza will take the stage Saturday evening at the Shelbyville Central High School theater. Eaglepalooza is the brain trust of Shelbyville Central soccer coach Neal Gordon, who was looking for a fun and different fundraiser back in 2009...

I was not in Parkland, Florida. I was not at Douglas High School when a former student with a gun pulled the fire alarm before firing at students and staff. I was not in danger when several people as young as fourteen were killed or injured, nor did I see the bleeding or dead bodies of people I knew...

Randy Carroll has announced his candidacy for Bedford County Mayor as an independent in the Aug. 2 general election. Carroll, a 1968 graduate of Shelbyville Central High School, served in the U.S. Navy from 1968 through 1972, with one tour overseas. ...

Several unspecified items were taken from a home on Highway 82 East near Bell Buckle, a Bedford County Sheriff's Office report said. Entry was gained by breaking a window, the report said. A 52-inch Sanyo television is missing from Sevier Street First Baptist Church, police were told Saturday...

After all the school closings at the end of January, our in-school 4-H clubs are finally all caught back up with meetings. Our Junior Clubs, 4th and 5th grades, are finishing up the fifth and final meeting of the year as February ends. The projects due at this last meeting are dairy posters and homemade piggy banks. ...

Citing the appropriateness of the setting, Charles Bolden Jr. gave those in attendance for his speech at the University of Tennessee Space Institute a little homework assignment. "Your homework is to do all you can with what you have with the time that you have in the place that you are," Bolden said...

Shelbyville FCE Club met Feb. 6 at the UT/TSU Extension office. Linda Rucker, the hostess, served refreshements. Helen Williams called the meeting to order by reading "I Opened A Book." Babs Chicoine presented the devotion. Nine members were present with one new member, Jackie Bane. Extension Agent Whitney Danhof presented a program, "Money Habitudes: What Are You And How To Work On Balance." Bonnie Saunders presented an educational lesson on the hospice program...