Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro (ICM) will be permitted to occupy its new mosque in time for Ramadan.

WTVF-TV is reporting that a federal judge issued an emergency restraining order Wednesday evening that compels county officials to grant immediate occupancy. The order means that ICM will likely get to celebrate Ramadan beginning Thursday evening in its new facility.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — A Memphis woman has been sentenced to 29 years in prison for fatally stabbing a Middle Tennessee State University women's basketball player.

Rutherford County Circuit Court Judge Don Ash on Tuesday sentenced Shanterrica Madden of Memphis to 25 years for second-degree murder and four years for tampering with evidence. The sentences will be served consecutively.

Madden was convicted in May in the March 2, 2011, death of 21-year-old Tina Stewart at an off-campus apartment they shared.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $395,000 a year for three years to Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region.

A news release said the money will provide Title X family planning services, including birth control and related health care, annual wellness exams and cancer screenings and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

Planned Parenthood in Memphis said it had provided these services for more than 30 years until last year when county health officials awarded the funding to Christ Community Health Services.

TOWNSEND, Tenn. (AP) — At least two people have been killed as a violent thunderstorm struck the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Park spokeswoman Melissa Cobern says a man on a motorcycle was killed as was a 41-year-old woman who was struck by a falling tree. The names of the victims were withheld while their family members were told.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Steve Peterson has retired after 25 seasons as head baseball coach at Middle Tennessee State University.

Peterson, who announced his retirement Thursday, compiled a 791-637-3 record with the Blue Raiders. His teams played in nine NCAA regional tourneys.

Jim McGuire, associate head coach, was named interim head coach.

Peterson also was head coach at Roane State Community College from 1979 to 1984.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam will begin his review of the state's college and university systems next week.

The Commercial Appeal  reports Haslam will assemble business, legislative and higher education leaders for a meeting at the governor's residence on July 10.

An invitation sent from the governor's office to members of the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees, Board of Regents and others says the meeting will also feature presentations by three leading higher education policy experts and that Haslam will moderate discussions after each presentation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Temperatures across Tennessee are predicted to build during the week, reaching triple-digit readings by Friday.

The National Weather Service forecasts call for late week high temperatures of 101 degrees in Nashville and Clarksville and 100 degrees in Memphis.

Even the uplands will be hot — reaching 95 degrees in Gatlinburg and 94 in Crossville.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are taking criminal action related to a mosque under construction in Tennessee that's been hit by arsonists and vandals and opposed in court.

U.S. Attorney Jerry E. Martin is holding a news conference Thursday afternoon at the building site of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. Agents from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also will attend.

Officials from those federal agencies declined to release more details before the announcement.

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn (AP) — An American woman who sent her Russian adopted son back to Moscow on a plane is asking a Tennessee judge to set aside an order for her to pay $150,000 in child support.

The Shelbyville Times-Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/Mwrumr ) that Torry Hansen claimed in court filings the child support would not go to benefit the boy, but would get lost in a bureaucratic system.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Students in the University of Tennessee system will find out this week how much their tuition will be in the fall.

The finance committee of the UT Board of Trustees is scheduled to make the tuition projections on Wednesday and the full board will vote on them Thursday.

The university system has an enrollment of about 50,000 students at campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Martin; the Health Science Center in Memphis; state Institutes of Agriculture and Public Service; and the Space Institute in Tullahoma.