Priti Patnaik

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that economic conditions and employment trends in the region’s manufacturing sector showed modest improvements over the past few months after two years of decline.

Connecticut finished the fiscal year on June 30 with a surplus of $393.3 million, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced last week. This was an increase of about $150 million from last month’s estimate and could mean a reduction in planned borrowing in the current fiscal year.

Honolulu’s mayor, who is running for governor, resigned from office on Tuesday to comply with a Hawaii state law that precludes a sitting mayor from running for office.

New York’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.2% in June, the lowest in more than a year, from 8.3% the month before, according to a report released last week by the state Labor Department.

The Southern California Public Power Authority is planning to sell next week $53 million of revenue refunding bonds to refinance short-term debt used for its purchase of the Tieton Hydropower Project in Washington for two of its member utilities.

Clark County is expected to sell $236.85 million of revenue bonds on Tuesday to finance street, highway, and transit projects.

When Burlington several years ago set out to build a municipal telecom network, it envisioned a self-sustaining system providing fiber-optic internet service to residents, business, and government in Vermont’s most populous city.

Thomson Reuters last month hired Daniel M. Berger as a senior market strategist at Thomson Municipal Market Monitor, focusing on market and credit activity.

In a bid to ease pressure on Nevada’s strained finances, Gov. Jim Gibbons last week approved plans to phase out Nevada State Prison in Carson City. The governor said this is expected to save the state $3 million while improving safety for prison staff.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System announced the acquisition of a 12.7% stake in London Gatwick Airport from Global Infrastructure Partners. The pension fund has committed up to $155 million for the purchase.

Essential service bonds continue to be considered among the safest municipal market investments, faring better than general obligations bonds in the current economic environment, on the back of the rate-setting ability of issuers and investor perception that these bonds are more immune to fiscal stress, according to market sources.

The Georgia Transportation Investment Act of 2010, signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue last week, seeks to make the biggest investment in state transportation infrastructure in the last 50 years.

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its Ba2 rating for outstanding revenue debt issued for Citrus Valley Health Partners, including $52.6 million of Series 1998 fixed-rate certificates of participation and $25 million of Series 1998 auction-rate COPs.

Triple-A rated Palo Alto will take bids for $58.5 million of Series 2010A general obligation bonds on Wednesday.

Fitch Ratings downgraded $4.7 billion of Clark County School District general obligation limited-tax bonds to AA and revised the outlook for the district to stable from negative.

A coalition of students, parents, school districts and educational organizations in California has sued the state, demanding an overhaul in the education finance system.

Rochester-based Harris Beach PLLC has hired attorney John S. Harris as partner to help with its expansion in the New York state capital region.

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle Monday announced that state income tax refunds processed during the months of January and February will now be issued. The 2009 refunds were delayed within the legally allowed 90-day refund period until early July 2010 to help mitigate the state’s projected $721 million revenue shortfall for fiscal 2010.

Growing property tax receipts in California have bucked the trend of falling market values of homes, according to a recent report from Moody’s Investors Service.