A Winchester teenager was killed in an accident on I-24 eastbound in Coffee County Sunday afternoon. Tennessee Highway Patrolman Jason Boles says 18-year-old Haley Cardenal was killed when she veered off the left shoulder of the roadway and overcorrected. Her Chevrolet traveled across the interstate, entered into a slide traveling off the right side of the roadway, down an embankment and struck a tree in the driver’s side door. Cardenal, who was from Winchester, was wearing her...

  It really is a matter of out of sight, out of mind, but radon is a deadly danger in many homes across the state, and the message on the importance of testing is clear. Jan Compton, manager of the Office of Sustainable Practices with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, says it’s estimated that more than 70 percent of the state’s population lives in moderate to high risk areas for the radioactive gas, which is the second leading cause of lung cancer. “Although some regions of the state are at higher risk and are more likely to...

A meteor shining as bright as a first-quarter moon prompted numerous sightings across Tennessee and neighboring states before burning up in the atmosphere above Mississippi on Saturday night, according to NASA. The object initially was spotted shortly before 9 p.m. as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere southwest of Tupelo, Miss., according to Bill Cooke, with NASA’s office in Huntsville, Ala. Cooke’s office received reports of the event from locations that included Memphis; Boaz, Ala.; Jackson, Miss.; and Cowan, Tenn. There were unconfirmed sightings in East Tennessee as well. The object, estimated to be about 6 inches in diameter and...

State Collaborative Reforming Education, or SCORE has released its annual State of Education in Tennessee report. The report states that Tennessee became the fastest improving state in the nation in fourth and eighth grade math and reading on the National Assessment for Educational Progress in 2013. In 2013, 4th graders in Tennessee were ranked 37th for improvement in math, up from 46th in 2011. That was due to a ten percent increase in math proficiency, according to the report. The average composite ACT score also improved to a 19.8 from a 19.5 earlier. Westwood Elementary was a SCORE prize...

Last week we told you about the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen looking at the possibility of a referendum vote to merge the city school system with the county. On Thursday the city school board came up with a plan they hope will stop the merger talk. The proposal includes $600,000-worth of cuts that the city would no longer have to provide the schools. The proposal also called for cuts in administrative pay and cuts to school system staff. Another part of the school system proposal is a reduction in the director of schools salary. Dr Keith Brewer’s...

A team of veterinarians in Bedford County have been evaluating approximately 100 animals, mostly dogs after their owner was accused of abuse. Kellie Williams has been charged with one count of animal abuse, said director Jack Cooper of Bedford County Animal Control. Officials identified her as Williams but said she is also known as Kellie Williams Grunder, and real estate records show the property listed by that name. Bedford County deputies and animal control workers discovered many mixed-breed dogs chained or in kennels and cages on the property, many were filled with feces, mud and trash, and had little...

Setting the stage for a potentially historic ruling, the Supreme Court announced Friday it will decide whether same-sex couples have a right to marry everywhere in America under the Constitution. The justices will take up gay-rights cases that ask them to overturn bans in four states and declare for the entire nation that people can marry the partners of their choice, regardless of gender. The cases will be argued in April, and a decision is expected by late June. The appeals before the court come from gay and lesbian plaintiffs in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The federal appeals...