The owner of a specialty infield-dirt supplier for the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and other baseball and softball fields needed a custom pug mill to insure a consistent product.

A  Tennessee road and bridge builder has agreed to pay $2.25 million to settle a whistle-blower lawsuit that accused the firm of fraud by putting its own employees on the payroll of a dis­advantaged business enterprise it used to get contracts for 12 projects in Tennessee.