By AMBER McDOWELL / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — The group charged with winnowing candidates for University of Tennessee president did not conduct in-depth background checks before picking 12 finalists, a UT trustee said Thursday. The Monday vote also came without any discussion among committee members of information obtained on each candidate, Presidential Search…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Two Shelby County lawmakers — one a black Democrat, the other a white Republican — continued a heated debate over a racial profiling bill Thursday. Rep. Henri Brooks, a Memphis Democrat, had proposed a bill that called for a study of racial profiling by state troopers. After it was defeated in the…

Pioneer soccer nabs 4th straight shutout Warren County Middle’s Tony Garibaldi works the ball downfield against a Sparta defender during Tuesday afternoon’s game at Pistole Park. Garibaldi scored three goals in the Pioneers’ win. (Dale Stubblefield photo) Warren County Middle School’s boys soccer team kept its early season hot streak going Tuesday, downing White County…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A 48-person docket was heard Tuesday by Judge Larry Ross in General Sessions Court.Included in court action:• Vanessa L. McCormick was bound over to the grand jury on charges of theft, forgery, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.• James Patrick Issacson was…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Deputies stopped an alleged meth trafficker in his tracks Wednesday, dropping him with a tazer gun as he tried to flee the scene of a meth lab.The suspect, Christopher Layton Taylor, 35, is charged with manufacture of methampetamine and is being held at Warren County…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard McMinnville urban forester Nick Kuhn discusses damage to 35 trees in the clover leaf near Angels Bridge that were planted as part of a beautification effort in 2002. (Amy Satterwhite photo) A major city planting project at Angels Bridge near the Highway 70 Bypass took…

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard With over 22,000 eggs to be had, Rock Island State Park will host what might just be the largest Easter Egg hunt in the Southeast tomorrow.“The hope is to make this the largest egg hunt this side of the Mississippi, if it isn’t already,” said…

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Student advisory committee members, from left, Leah Cunningham, Whitney Pelham, Kasi McGregor and Bradley Locke were among 400 state students who attended TSBA’s Student Congress on Policies in Education last month. Like those of their adult counterparts, the opinions of Tennessee students are divided. One…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard An employee with a bank servicing company faces two to four years behind bars for stealing money from automated teller machines across two states.The defendant, Jeremy Eugene Stevenson entered a guilty plea in circuit court before Judge Bart Stanley on the charge of theft over…

By DENNIS STANLEY / Publisher & Editor for the Smithville Review ELLIS A Putnam County man has been charged with killing his mother in Knox County and bringing the body to DeKalb County and setting it on fire in an apparent attempt to conceal the crime.Charged with second-degree murder is Gordon Ellis, 34, of Cressent…