Attorneys have brought a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga (EPB) violated Tennessee’s False Claims Act by knowingly submitting inflated bills for its streetlights, thereby overbilling Chattanooga taxpayers for an amount that remains in dispute. Plaintiff Don Lepard, owner of Global Green Lighting and a former contactor for the city, filed the sealed lawsuit against EPB on behalf of the city and state. The suit claims that when Lepard informed EPB about its defective billing and record keeping systems in 2011, the utility began changing its books rather than reimbursing the city. Lepard is seeking more than $10 million in damages for what he says is an average 27 percent overbilling rate. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has the story.

The music industry has entered into waiting mode as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) weighs hundreds of pages of public comments regarding its review of the consent decrees that govern how ASCAP and BMI administer music licenses and distributes royalties, the Tennessean reports. Because of the emergence of new technologies and music delivery systems, the licensing of music has become more complicated and disputes have arisen over fair rates. The issue has spilled into the federal courts, where the performance rights organizations dispute the rate that Internet radio company Pandora pays to songwriters and publishers.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will host the fourth annual Constitution Day public lecture Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the UTC Center Auditorium. In the lecture, “American Constitutional Politics in Perspective: Why Parchment Barriers are Insufficient,” Dr. Michael Federici will discuss why the underlying “Unwritten Constitution”—the attitudes about ethics and religion, human nature, the individual and the role of government in society— has and always will shape American constitutional theory, practice and our public and private lives. The Chattanoogan has more.

The Chattanooga Bar Association hosted a reception Tuesday at the Hunter Museum to celebrate the retirements of several local officials and to honor newly elected officials. The Hamilton County Herald has one photo of the group. Additional photos are available in the print edition.

Following a ruling yesterday by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals striking down gay marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana, 32 states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the issue of gay marriage once and for all, the Associated Press reports. Led by Massachusetts, 15 of the 19 states that allow gay marriage filed a brief asking the justices to take up cases from Virginia, Utah and Oklahoma and overturn their marriage bans. A second group of 17 states that have banned the practice asked the court to hear cases from Utah and Oklahoma to clear up a "morass" of lawsuits. Led by Colorado, this group did not urge the court to rule one way or another. WATE News 6 has the AP story.

Wilson County CASA will welcome Chicago’s improv comedy powerhouse The Second City’s 55th Anniversary Tour on Oct. 10 at the Capitol Theatre in Lebanon. This event benefitting Wilson County CASA is the first of its kind in Wilson County and marks the troupe’s only Tennessee appearance in 2014. Tickets are $50, or upgrade to VIP for $25 more, and can be purchased at www.wilsoncountycasa.org or by calling 615-443-2002.

Gov. Bill Haslam has asked the top executive at the Department of Children's Services for a report on the violence at Woodland Hills Youth Development Center, the Tennessean reports. Officials handcuffed 24 teenagers early this morning after a riot broke out at Woodland Hills, the site of an escape that drew national headlines earlier this week. Six of those escapees remained at large as of last night. It is unclear when Commissioner Jim Henry will complete the report.

The argument over President Barack Obama's legal authority to defer deportations begins 42 years ago with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, WSMV reports from the Associated Press. In 1968, Lennon was convicted of possession of "cannabis resin" in London and faced deportation in New York by the Nixon administration. In time, the effort to extend Lennon's stay in the United States would become an integral part of the legal foundation the Obama administration relied on in 2012 to set up a program that has deferred the deportation of more than 580,000 immigrants who entered the country without documents as children. The extent of Obama's legal authority is now central to the White House deliberations over what else Obama can do — and when — without congressional action to reduce deportations and give many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States the ability to stay and work without fear of being removed.

The American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation Legal Services Access to Justice Committee has awarded Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands a $5,000 Justice Assistance Fund Grant. The money will be used to expand and deepen relationships with rural attorneys, private law firms, government agencies and private businesses for Legal Aid Society’s Volunteer Lawyers Program as well as to expand its Campaign for Equal Justice.

Leticia Alexander was fired Tuesday morning, the latest of six prosecutors let go by new Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk. She isn’t going quietly, however. Alexander tells WSMV she believes that she and several others were terminated for political reasons. She was featured in an advertisement supporting Funk's opponent. "I don't think the prosecutor's office should ever be used as political animals," Alexander said. "I mean, we don't work there for political purposes. We work there to serve the community." When asked why he terminated six attorneys, Funk responded, "Out of consideration for the people who have left the office, I'm not going to make any comments."