About 300 people took the oath to become Untied States citizens yesterday at Middle Tennessee State University during a Constitution Day celebration, News Channel 5 reports. U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe B. Brown held court session in the university gymnasium, while Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Gary Wade served as guest speaker.

The Black Business/Contractors Association filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice over Knox County’s lack of city and county contracts with black-owned businesses. Representatives from the association claim less than one percent of city or county business has gone to black-owned firms. Knox County officials said over 10 percent of its contracts go to minority- and women-owned businesses but they do not keep figures on specific breakdowns. Read more on Knoxnews.com.

The Tennessee Department of Education will withhold $3.4 million from Metro Nashville Public Schools, following its refusal to comply with a State Board of Education directive to approve Great Hearts Academy’s charter school application, the Tennessean reports. “We were all hopeful that Metro Nashville’s school board would obey the law and avoid this situation,” said Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman. “It is our job to enforce state law, and we have no choice but to take this action.”

Former shareholders of Nashville-based HCA have filed a federal lawsuit against Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs, the Blackstone Group, and other big, private equity firms for bid-rigging, the Tennessean reports. The lawsuit alleges the firms conspired to lower prices in leveraged buyouts by blocking rival bidders. Attorneys for the private firms in question deny any wrongdoing.

The FDIC’s Office of Inspector General has released a failure report about Tennessee Commerce Bank, the state’s first bank failure in 10 years, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The bank was deemed to be in “troubled condition” by federal regulators in 2009; state and federal regulators closed it in January 2012. The new report lists bank management and board of director leadership as the primary reason for failure, but also suggested state regulars could have been more proactive. In the aftermath of the failure, a shareholder has filed a lawsuit against bank executives, and the bank's involvement with financial entrepreneur Ed Lowry also is being investigated.

Knox County Commissioners have asked the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce to release financial reports detailing how private and public funds were spent, Knoxnews.com reports. Commissioners want the information to ensure public funds were not used for two political campaigns. David Buuck, chief deputy to the Knox County law director, said the Chamber is required by federal law to disclose donors who donate to the organization’s nonprofit branch. Chamber members maintain they did not use public funds in the campaigns. 

Police officers from Franklin, Brentwood, and the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office will be attending a four-day child abduction federal training program starting today, the Tennessean reports. The officers will join other school and legal professionals to participate in the free Department of Justice program. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation currently has the only certified Child Abduction Response Team in the state. Upon completion of the program, the Williamson County group will be the first contingent of local officials in Tennessee to be trained and develop its own protocol for responding to abduction.

Police, school and court representatives in Memphis met last week to discuss the racial disparity within juvenile court. WRCBtv reports that officials are participating in a training program intended to reduce the number of minority youth who are sent to the juvenile system at a rate 3.4 times as often as white youth.

Former Lewisburg city attorney and judge Robert O. "Bob" Binkley died Sept.9 at his home in Lewisburg. He was 80. The Marshall County Tribune detailed many of his accomplishments and contributions to the city in an article last week. "It is impossible to overstate the impact he had ... over 30 years, especially in the area of industrial development," former Mayor Bob Phillips told the newspaper. Other civic leaders added their praises for the Nashville native, who graduated from Vanderbilt University and the YMCA (Nashville) Law School before moving to Lewisburg to practice law. In the years since, Mr. Binkley served for over 20 years as attorney for the City of Lewisburg and City Attorney for the Town of Chapel Hill and Town of Cornersville. He also served as counsel of the Marshall County Industrial Development Board and president of the Marshall County Chamber of Commerce. Funeral services were Sept. 13.

State Rep. Curry Todd’s attorney Worrick Robinson pleaded not guilty on his behalf today to DUI and weapons charges, the Tennessean reports. Todd was arrested Oct.11, 2011, after police say he failed a roadside sobriety test and was carrying a handgun in his vehicle.