Richard Williamson

DALLAS — Glendale, Ariz., is in negotiations to sell the Phoenix Coyotes to a former National Hockey League team official in a deal that will not require a bond issue.

DALLAS — While other Arizona cities compete for a $100 million private prison on behalf of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Goodyear has threatened to sue the state if it decides to build another lockup in its backyard.

DALLAS — An environmental lawsuit by the Sierra Club could impede bond issuance for one section of a 170-mile toll loop around the Houston area known as the Grand Parkway.

DALLAS — Despite Texas Gov. Rick Perry's claim that "government doesn't create jobs," the state capital owes its top debt rating and stable outlook in large measure to government employment, analysts said.

DALLAS - Amid rising sales tax revenue and an improving economy, Phoenix is considering a bond issue to revive plans for a $288 million extension of the metro area's new light-rail system.

DALLAS - Standard & Poor's on Tuesday downgraded $7.9 million of revenue bonds for a speculative West Texas jail to CC from A-minus after Jones County officials indicated plans to default on the debt if they cannot find a tenant for the facility.

Peck, Shaffer & Williams, a leading national public finance law firm, has named former Lathrop & Gage attorney Bob Coyne as a partner in its Denver office.

DALLAS - Colorado's Regional Transportation District has received confirmation of a $1.03 billion federal grant that is a key element in financing its $6.7 billion FasTracks program.

DALLAS - A lawsuit filed before the Texas Supreme Court seeks to strike down the state's tax on business, claiming it violates the constitution's prohibition on levying a personal income tax without voter approval.

DALLAS - A year before opening a $60 million stadium that has become a symbol of Texas' zeal for high school football, the Allen Independent School District is turning its attention to classrooms and the deepest budget cuts in state history, experts said.

DALLAS - Fitch Ratings has downgraded $12.6 million of certificates of participation issued in 2009 for Tucson's downtown Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District while affirming the city’s general obligation debt at AA-minus.

DALLAS - The South Texas town of Donna has become a growing crossroad for international business since the opening of the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge over the Rio Grande last December.

DALLAS - With more than $1 billion of road and rail projects in the works, the Dallas suburb of Irving is pressing ahead with the nation’s largest transit-oriented development despite economic challenges.

DALLAS - With its first credit rating in hand, the Navajo Nation is preparing to finance a $200 million wind farm in a venture with Edison Mission Energy of Southern California.

DALLAS - The West Texas town of Littlefield raised $6 million to pay bond debt Thursday by auctioning a private prison that stood empty for nearly two years.

DALLAS - Toll road debt rated by Moody's Investors Service rose 19.2% in 2010, prompting a negative outlook on the sector, analysts said in a special report.

DALLAS - Amid uncertainty in the bond market and painful belt-tightening by the state, two large Texas school districts are issuing a combined $235 million of bonds to keep up with demands from growing populations.

DALLAS - The Central Texas Turnpike System, which operates three tollways in the Austin area, is counting on higher subsidies from the state after revenues fell $100 million short of covering debt and operating costs, officials said.

DALLAS - Houston on Tuesday priced $259 million of hotel occupancy-tax revenue bonds to refund variable-rate debt and a 2001 issue that carried Ambac Assurance Corp. insurance.

DALLAS - As Texas and other states seek to lower prison expenses, local governments that invested in private lockups are bearing the costs of lower incarceration rates.