Stories from Sunday, February 24, 2019

Bedford County Schools will remain closed Monday, Feb. 25, due to flooding conditions. School-Age Care Program will be open at Eakin Elementary School.

According to NBC News, we are in the early stages of mood forecasting technology that could help stop bad moods even before they strike. (No, this is a different story than the one about using surplus North Korean missiles to take out your lowlife cousin's Winnebago before he can embark on a month-long visit, although that too could stop bad moods before they strike.)...

It's been far from quiet lately at the library! We had a rip-roaring good time at the story time on February 6th when the theme was Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day was again the theme for our bilingual story time on February 13th. The attendance was smaller than usual because of the school closures, but those attending had a lively time...

Some people say 40 is the new 30, although I think I may have heard when I turned 30, back in 2009, that 30 was the new 20. It's funny the things we tell ourselves to feel better. I don't know about anyone else, but the months leading up to the big 4-0, for me, were filled with anxiety. ...

I was looking through my archives of old columns this week, and I came across one that I wrote on February 25, 2011. As I reread my musings from that day 8 years ago, I realized that I was going through a period of transition at that time. As I thought about what I was reading I realized also that I made mention of several people that I'd never met, and then I wrote about a number of people that have become dear friends of mine over the years...

Tony and Erin Mercer of Bell Buckle announce the birth of a girl, Molly Tate Mercer, Feb. 4 in Murfreesboro. She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and is a sister to Holt, 10, and Hap, 6. Grandparents are Mitzi Raney of Shelbyville, Allen Hale of Chattanooga, Jim and Cathy Mercer of Bell Buckle. Great-grandparents are Ronnie and Linda Hale of Chattanooga...

Bill and Miriam Pietkiewicz of Shelbyville announce the engagement of their daughter, Micky, to Matt Coker of Nashville The bride-elect is the granddaughter of the late Rev. John Kelly, the late Lucille Kelly, and the late Helen Dean PIetkiewicz. She is a 2013 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Memphis and is employed as a digital account manager at Zeta Global in Nashville...

About a month ago, on Jan. 27, I gave you a list of some of my favorite movies and challenged you to send me some of yours. In all honesty, I felt a little guilty about that original column -- it was one of those last-minute, need-something-for-this-page efforts, and I was afraid it was self-indulgent. But everyone seems to have enjoyed it, and I got quite a few responses, not only from the people you'll see below but also from people who just said they enjoyed reading the original list...

The cast of the upcoming Shelbyville Central High School spring musical, "The Wiz," said on the heels of their first public appearance that they realize they're "not in Kansas anymore." Keeping their nervousness in check, 11 drama members gave a preview of their spring play at the Wednesday Shelbyville Woman's Club. The team will now head into rehearsals where they'll spend countless hours over the next 2 1/2 months...

NASHVILLE — After settling for third in the District 8-A tournament last week, the Cascade Lady Champions got just the start they wanted in the Region 4-A tournament on Friday night. Led by a stellar effort by senior Keeley Sutton, Cascade (24-5) imposed its will on an out-matched RePublic and coasted to a 67-31 victory to keep its season alive...

“And this is why we’re where we are,” said a local criminal court judge recently. He made that remark following a few moments of disreputable disregard for the court by one defendant. Throughout the presentation of his case, he used the words “yeah” before the judge. Whatever happened to “yes sir, your honor?”...

A 2002 Buick Rendezvous was stolen during the day Thursday from the parking lot of a Jennifer Circle apartment, Shelbyville police said. The SUV was last seen early Thursday when the owner left for work. It was gone when she returned in late afternoon...

Dickie Gardner Stables, in Bedford County, helped World War II veteran David Lowhorn of Tullahoma celebrate his 100th birthday on Tuesday, by giving him a chance to ride Molly, a 9-year-old Spotted Saddle Horse owned by Elaine Drake of Shelbyville. Lowhorn was already familiar with the horse, whom he’d raised as a foal...

With 14 prior Georgia incarcerations and a local first-degree murder conviction, 29-year-old Jeremy Lee Fleming learned Thursday he’ll be elderly before becoming eligible to be released from prison for the 2016 murder of Robert Timothy Perkins. Fleming, dressed in a white Tennessee Department of Corrections uniform, seemed to want to have the last word in Bedford County Circuit Court Thursday. Bordering what are typically grounds for contempt of court, Fleming verbally pleaded for mercy...

CHARLOTTE – After the Community Viqueens came back from a 9-point fourth quarter deficit and took a 4-point overtime lead, it appeared the Viqueens would escape their Region 6-AA quarterfinal game with a victory. But Raegan Hohl of the Creek Wood Lady Red Hawks broke the heart of the Viqueens by sinking a three-pointer with two seconds left in overtime to give the Lady Red Hawks a 42-41 win Friday night...

Former Shelbyville Central track standout Kethlin Campbell has been making some moves both on and off the track. After a stellar high school career, the talented student athlete signed a full track scholarship to Duke University. Following a very successful freshman year at Duke, she transferred to the University of Arkansas on a full scholarship, becoming a member of the top-ranked woman’s indoor track program in the county...

The waters are rising!