by Amanda West | Dec 13, 2024 | Feature
The measure of a man’s life is not in the riches he accumulates, but in the friends he gathers along the way. Manuel Rodriguez scratched out a living alongside his parents in Dolores Hidalgo in Guanajuato, Mexico. The second eldest son of nine children, Manuel carried...
by Amanda West | Dec 13, 2024 | Feature
During his first mission trip with Appalachian Outreach in 2000, Steven Flippo surveyed the condition of the property assigned to his team, and his heart ached. “We were tasked with doing repairs for an elderly gentleman. He did not have a functioning bathroom. The...
by Amanda West | Nov 8, 2024 | Feature
This past June, as temperatures hovered above the 90s and rainfall was scarce, a group of teens from Bell Buckle United Methodist Church (BBUMC), Shelbyville First United Methodist Church (SFUMC), Trinity United Methodist Church of Murfreesboro (Trinity UMC), and...
by Jeriah Brumfield | Nov 8, 2024 | Feature
The arena’s din does little to break his concentration. Keon Johnson drives toward the basket, his eyes locked on its rim. With a swift pivot, he creates space as his body twists, the ball arcs through the air, and the net swishes in one fluid, confident...
by Amanda West | Oct 12, 2024 | Feature
AFTER PREVIOUSLY giving birth to her two sons, Kohen and Hollis, paired with a background in obstetrics, Abby Reed had few concerns about the upcoming delivery of her third son, Whitt. But on June 26, 2023, as her husband, Trevor, dialed 911, the Reed family had no...
by Amanda West | Oct 12, 2024 | Feature
FIRE CHIEF Matt Doak has been a firefighter either in Bedford County or for the city of Shelbyville for 31 years. He diligently worked his way through the chain of command, beginning his career as a volunteer for Bedford County before becoming an instructor for the...
