Andrew Ward

SAN FRANCISCO — Poseidon Resources is seeking a $530 million private-activity bond cap allocation from the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee this month in a bid to build the West Coast’s first large-scale desalination plant.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded its underlying rating on the Santa Paula Union High School District in Ventura County to AA-minus from A ahead of an $8 million general obligation sale.

Voters in bankrupt Vallejo reauthorized the city’s utility user tax, saving $5.2 million of revenue for the city’s $75 million general fund.

The Bay Area Toll Authority this week began public hearings on proposed toll increases on seven state-owned toll bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area.

SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last week proposed borrowing to speed construction on $20 billion of mass transit projects approved by Los Angeles County voters last year.

SAN FRANCISCO — California, Oregon, and Nevada have taken a harsh battering in the Great Recession, but lawmakers in the three Far West states have reacted very differently.

The Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, the Bay Area Toll Authority’s busiest bridge, was expected to reopen today after it was closed earlier in the week when five tons of recently replaced steel supports fell into traffic and damaged cars.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded the San Ramon Valley Unified School District to AA from AA-minus ahead of its annual tax and revenue anticipation note sale.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco International Airport last week used a tender offer to refinance as tax-exempt about $120 million of private-activity bond debt that had been subject to the alternative minimum tax, making it the first airport to successfully pull off the maneuver.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded the Capistrano Unified School District School Facilities Improvement District No. 1’s general obligation bonds by two notches to A-plus from AA.

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, the governing body for Los Angeles World Airports, this week approved the sale of up to $1.625 billion of revenue bonds for Los Angeles International Airport.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Oakland-based Bay Area Toll Authority plans to sell $1.3 billion in its first taxable Build America Bond deal next week.

SAN FRANCISCO — Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings yesterday said they planned to upgrade California’s economic recovery bonds after a $3 billion refunding deal next week.

SAN FRANCISCO — The recent bankruptcies of two community hospitals in California show how difficult the current economic environment is for health care providers — and how much effort is required to actually bankrupt a hospital.

SAN FRANCISCO — Fitch Ratings Monday downgraded the insurer financial strength rating of Assured Guaranty Corp. to AA-minus from AA and the rating of Financial Security Assurance Inc. to AA from AA-plus, citing concerns about losses on mortgage-backed securities.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Sierra Kings Health District in Reedley, Calif., last week filed for Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy protection after discovering that the proceeds of bond sales in 2006 and 2007 were misused.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Bernardino County, California’s fifth-most populous county, plans to refund $174.4 million of outstanding variable-rate demand obligations after it lost liquidity support for the debt and Moody’s Investors Service put its ratings on negative watch.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded its long-term and underlying ratings on the Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s certificates of participation to AA-plus from AA ahead of a $19.7 million bond issue.

The Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners named deputy mayor S. David Freeman, veteran utility manager, as interim general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles World Airports Board of Directors on Monday agreed to a $75 million settlement with bondholders in a seven-year-old dispute over United Airlines special facilities revenue bonds sold to make improvements at Los Angeles International Airport.