By ROB NUNLEY Senior wideout Travis Young leaps in the end zone and hauls in a touchdown pass from Kyle Mullican on the first play of the second quarter Friday night in Sparta. SPARTA ‘ Years of frustrating losses to a neighboring rival were avenged Friday night, as the Pioneers ended a five-game losing streak…

TODAY, SEPT. 16 The Beech Grove Confederate Cemetery and Park located off I-24 at exit 97 will have appreciation day at 2 p.m. to show off improvements at the facility. Short Mountain Church of God will celebrate its 86th homecoming from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch at 12:15 p.m. The Murphy Family Singers…

By DUANE SHERRILL A homeless man trying to keep warm Thursday morning faces criminal charges after he tried to light a fire inside a storage building and sparked a blaze which damaged a building outside Covenant Fellowship Church on Manchester Highway. The suspect, Jerry Wayne Barnes, 36, reportedly suffers from mental problems and had just…

There’s no pie like fried pie. The winners in Saturday’s Farmers Market Fried Pie Contest are, from left, John Basham, accepting ribbon for wife Paulette, second place peach, Debbie Durham, first place apple and miscellaneous, James Brymer, first place peach, second place apple and miscellaneous, and Violet Turner, third place in apple, peach and miscellaneous.

By DUANE SHERRILL A 95-person docket was heard Thursday by Judge Larry Ross in General Sessions Traffic Court. Included in traffic court action: ‘ Jose Santiago Marles Lira was ordered to serve 47 days of an 11-29 sentence, pay $650 plus costs and lose his driver’s license for two years for second-offense DUI and second-offense…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON Warren County is holding a special Bicentennial Volunteer Banquet at McMinnville Civic Center on Saturday, Sept. 29 to honor the county’s rural volunteer fire departments, community improvement clubs, the fair board and the Warren County Rescue Squad for the services they have provided to the community throughout the years. The banquet…

Weeping and still maintaining his innocence, a Sparta Street man who accosted a woman near his home last year entered a guilty plea to attempted kidnapping charges and was given a six-year sentence. The defendant, Ramon Robles, entered a best-interest plea to the charge of attempted kidnapping and was given a six-year sentence Wednesday by…

By DUANE SHERRILL Eleven people were sentenced last week by Judge Bart Stanley in Circuit Court Criminal Division, including a man who administered a severe beating to another man with an ax handle three years ago. The defendant, Andy McAmis, was ordered to serve eight years as a range-two repeat offender on the charge of…

By LISA HOBBS The annual planning conference for city officials will see a few changes this year. This conference will be just the facts and no fun at all. Last year, the conference was held at Fall Creek Falls State Park. This location led some to believe the conference was really a retreat for city…

By DUANE SHERRILL A DeKalb County couple with a car full of stolen merchandise and burglary tools was caught red-handed recently during a routine traffic stop. The defendants, Michelle Lee Culwell and Bryon Ray Gibbs, will face preliminary hearing Oct. 9 in General Sessions Court on charges of burglary, theft and possession of burglary tools.…