Stories from Saturday, October 31, 2020

Did you realize that commercial radio got its start on November 2, 1920 when legendary KDKA (Pittsburgh) broadcast the results of the Harding-Cox presidential race? Almost overnight, radio transitioned from domination by ham operators to an actual business with schedules, programming and sponsors...

Going up the mountain to Tracy City can be a relaxing one-day fall trip. The town serves as the location of the Grundy County Historical Society, just in case you need more history. There’s one art gallery named, The Nature Works, which focuses solely on nature and wildlife. There are incidentally about 12 churches, including the historic First Baptist, which was founded in the late 1800s. There are great mom and pop establishments for lunch and dinner. So check out Tracy City, which is at one end of the Fiery Gizzard Trail, known for its beauty. In this time of COVID-19, pack a picnic lunch for a day road trip and stop off at the park there.

God, grant me the serenity
 to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
 For I can do everything through Christ Who gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13.

Several non-profit organizations benefited from the dedication of workers during the recent United Way of Bedford County’s Day of Caring. Jostens, Newell Brands and First Community Bank provided volunteers who completed several projects for non-profits who are also partners of United Way of Bedford County...

Janolyn King recently provided her fellow Rotarians with an overview of her life and career, including her work at Cascade Middle School. Club president Ivan Jones was program facilitator. 

PULASKI, Tenn.–Martin Methodist College (MMC) recently announced it has been awarded a 5-year Title III Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) grant, totaling over $2 million. Mark Green, the 7th District congressman, visited the MMC campus to present the award to MMC President Dr. Mark La Branche and community leaders...

Most of your Halloween weekend is looking partly cloudy with high temperatures in the low-to-mid 60s and dropping into the 40s at night but another cold front will usher in even colder air by Monday and Tuesday mornings, when a heavy frost is likely and a freeze in some parts of Bedford County and Middle Tennessee...

Tax collections are up this fall in Bedford Cpunty, the county commission’s financial management committee was told Tuesday. Sales tax collections are up $427,000 and property tax collections $255,000 over this time, Finance Director Robert Daniel said...

The late Sam Gunter was known to most Bedford Countians as simply “Clarabell.” In memory of his beloved father, who passed away in 2019, Kevin Gunter has opened an antique, sport and outdoors shop on the public square at East Depot Street rightfully named, Clarabell Collectibles...

To the editor, As a person who tends to believe that people are generally good, I have a hard time understanding the reason why people would vote for a President who is so obviously such a horrible failure of a human being. There is no reason to bring up Donald Trump's draft dodging, his numerous sexual assaults and affairs, his false Christianity, his habitual dishonesty,  or his businesses that he has bankrupted because of his own incompetence. ...

I’ve refrained the last eight months from pushing my viewpoints about wearing masks during the pandemic onto others. Still, medical studies are showing that the practice — one which I’ve implemented in public since March — is proving beneficial to stopping the spread of the coronavirus...

Motlow State selected Automation & Robotics Training Center (ARTC) Executive Director Larry Flatt as its nominee for the annual Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Statewide Outstanding Achievement & Recognition (SOAR) Staff Excellence Award. Flatt joined Motlow in 2012 and was a leader in creating the ARTC, overseeing the construction of the facility, and partnering with the world’s leading automation and robotics manufacturers to develop advanced training opportunities. ...

For over fifteen years, the Rotary Club of Shelbyville has distributed dictionaries to 3rd grade students as part of their efforts to promote literacy. This year over 630 English dictionaries were provided to students in 10 elementary schools throughout Bedford County...

Years ago, I was driving down I-24 on my way home from Murfreesboro and I slowed down to let someone in a pick-up truck enter the lane in front of me. As they merged, they proceeded to display some obscene hand gestures aimed in my direction. In fact, not only did the driver wave rudely at me but so did the passenger. I got flipped-off in duplicate! I got the double whammy!...

A Coop Road resident told Bedford County deputies she was attacked by an intruder Thursday morning outside her home by two men who forced their way inside. The woman said the men were waiting outside the home when she arrived around 8 a.m. after taking her children to school, Detective Lt. Scott Jones of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office said...

On Election Tuesday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., it’s estimated millions of registered voters across the country, and thousands right here in this county, will have made their choice for President of the United States. After a long campaign of political slurs and observing countless handfuls of mud slung, the winner may emerge later that evening to give his acceptance speech — but some observers think results will be challenged or delayed...

A Unionville man was killed in a fiery head-on crash in the Halls Mill area at mid-morning Thursday. Robert Delucia, 57, of Unionville was westbound on Halls Mill Road in a 1987 Chevrolet S-10 pickup around 9 a.m., crossed the center line and struck a 2009 Dodge Caliber SUV head-on, according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol preliminary report...

On September 13, the White House Coronavirus Task Force recommended, in a secret weekly report, that Tennessee Governor Bill Lee “Establish (a) statewide mask mandate” because the state was in the “red zone for cases.” When Gov. Lee got that report, the number of new cases of COVID-19 in Tennessee (the week of Sept. 6 through Sept. 12) was 8,529. In the last days of October (Oct. 21 through Oct. 27) there were 18,205 new cases of the coronavirus in Tennessee...

Due to increasing COVID-19 cases, Eakin Elementary, Harris Middle, Cascade and Community High Schools will transition to all virtual learning, beginning Monday morning, superintendent Don Embry informed his staff Friday.  Based on an updated report from the superintendent on Friday afternoon, 406 Bedford County students are currently quarantined and 26 have tested positive for coronavirus. ...

UNIONVILLE – Don't tell the Community Vikings, especially the seniors, that their final game of the season did not have any significance. Despite being eliminated from the playoffs, the Vikings played with plenty of grit from start to finish, and used a late touchdown and a goal line stand on the final play of the game to preserve a hard-fought 28-20 win over the Summertown Eagles in a Region 5-2A contest Friday night...

WESTMORELAND — Friday night's regular season finale between Cascade and Westmoreland showcased two teams that are differentiated by a razor thin margin. While Westmoreland (5-5, 3-2) eventually finished the 4-AA slate with a 14-0 win over the Champions to lock up...

Was the end of the season or not? Only time will tell. Shelbyville Central’s Golden Eagles capped off a long week of waiting and wondering what the future holds with a 30-14 win over Region 5-5A opponent Columbia in the regular season finale on Homecoming night...