It’s down to six. The Coffee County School Board has decided on their final 6 choices for the Director of Schools position to replace Kenny Casteel.
Kim Aaron, of Manchester, James L. Francis, Spring Hill, Tenn., Mary Ann Gemmill, of Naples, Fla., Randall L. Henion, Lexington, N.C., Aaron Del Hosman, Paragould, Ark. and Dr. LaDonna McFall, Jefferson City, Tenn. All candidates will be contacted for an interviewed. The board will conduct the interviews March 5-16.
Aaron is the current Principal at North Coffee Elementary (2003-present). Francis is the current Project Director at Tennessee Department of Education. Gemmill is the former Chief administrative officer Collier County, Fla., Gemmill is currently not working. Henion runs Henion & Associates (2001-present) Henion was a superintendent in Danbury, N.C. and in Hertford, N.C. Del Hosman is the former Superintendent of schools Paragould School District (2004-2011) currently unemployed. McFall is now the assistant director of schools in Jefferson Co. (2009-present) and Adjunct professor at Tusculum College (2010-present).
Thanks to the Manchester Times for its help with this story.

Manchester Police arrested 21year old Devon Tyler Arnold of West Moore Street Manchester for possession of marijuana for resale. Police entered Arnold’s residence and allegedly found hydroponic marijuana in the residence along with several pills, a white powdery substance and drug paraphernalia. Manchester Police Investigator Butch Stewart noted that those who sell marijuana are able to earn in many cases twice as much for the hydroponic grown marijuana than that grown the normal way.

All westbound lanes of Interstate 24 were closed in Coffee County following a wreck Monday evening. The wreck was reported just after 6 p.m. at mile marker 112, near Manchester. The Tennessee Highway Patrol says the driver of a 2008 Toyota RAV4, Ronald Brinton, 53, of Illinois, lost control and overturned into the guardrail. Brinton was transported via LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Medical Center for treatment of his injuries. Medics transported the vehicle’s two passengers, Virginia Brinton, 59, and Patti Rhinheimer, 53, to Manchester Hospital. There are no reports on the occupants’ conditions. No other vehicles were involved in the wreck. The Tennessee Department of Transportation says the roadway was back open by 8 p.m.

There was a serious automobile accident at 10:30 Tuesday morning on I-24 East. The accident was halfway between the Buchanan and Beechgrove exits. The Air Evac Emergency Helicopter flew the victim from the scene of the crash to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.
The victim Joseph Lawrence had a medical crisis, crashed into another vehicle and then ran off the road and into a heavily wooded area. Lawrence, who is from Nashville, is now resting in stable condition.-WGNS-

A Lewisburg man has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for horse soring violations. Two others received probation from U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice of Chattanooga.
Barney Davis, 39, received the prison term and was fined $4,000. At his sentencing hearing Monday, he described mechanical devices and chemical irritants used to sore horses to force them to show an exaggerated gait in the show ring.
Christen Altman, 26, of Shelbyville and 33-year-old Jeffery Bradford of Lewisburg were sentenced to 12 months’ probation for soring violations.
U.S. Attorney Bill Killian said the crimes committed by the three are examples of widespread problems in the equine industry. All three are from the heart of the Tennessee Walking Horse region.

For Tennesseans who did not file a federal income tax return in 2008 but have a refund coming, Uncle Sam is looking for you. The Internal Revenue Service said last week that refunds totaling $16.1 million are waiting for about 18,400 Tennesseans. The unclaimed refunds are among more than $1 billion due to about 1 million people who haven’t filed for 2008 yet.
To collect the money, a return for 2008 must be filed with the IRS no later than Tuesday, April 17, 2012. There is no penalty for filing a late return qualifying for a refund.
Tennessee IRS spokesman Dan Boone says some who haven’t filed yet for 2008 could be eligible for an even bigger refund than our records indicate. “IRS won’t know until they file if they qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Recovery Rebate Credit or both.”