Shelly Sigo

Outgoing Alabama Attorney General Troy King last week said he has asked a private law firm to begin preparations for suing BP and other firms responsible for the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Faced with a looming deficit and difficult union negotiations, officials in Miami are looking at ways to shore up a nearly $100 million hole in next year’s budget.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida Municipal Loan Council and the city of South Miami have notified investors in the Series 2002A and 2006 pool bonds that they have voluntarily entered the Internal Revenue Service’s compliance program.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Crews this week began geotechnical and survey work on the first phase of Florida’s $2.6 billion high-speed rail project from Tampa to Orlando, which is set to be built in the median of Interstate 4.

Despite polls showing that most Florida residents want a constitutional ban on oil drilling in state waters, the Republican-led Legislature met in special session for less than an hour Tuesday and killed all attempts to put the issue on the ballot in November.

In a runoff election last week, Jefferson County Commissioner Bobby Humphreys lost his bid for re-election. Since the four other commissioners opted not to run again, that means an entirely new commission will be seated after the general election is held in November.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking a summary judgment against former Jefferson County, Ala., commissioner Larry Langford on three counts of violating the federal Securities Act.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Georgia Department of Transportation is moving forward with its second public-private partnership project — a long-discussed multi-modal passenger terminal in downtown Atlanta.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences has closed on a rare municipal bond offering from a Florida charter school.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Based on settlements recommended by the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal judge in Alabama has issued permanent injunctions prohibiting future violations of securities laws by Montgomery bond dealer William Blount and his firm, Blount Parrish & Co., and local lobbyist Al LaPierre.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Miami-Dade County, Fla., next week is pricing $524 million of tax-exempt aviation revenue bonds in what is expected to be the last major financing for Miami International Airport’s $6.49 billion capital improvement plan.

This week at the first meeting of the presidential commission investigating the Gulf oil disaster, Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway said the charter and seafood industries are in “freefall” while perception is playing havoc with tourism.

Fitch Ratings has become the third major rating agency to downgrade Miami’s general obligation bond rating ahead of a financing to build parking garages for the Marlins’ new baseball stadium, which is under construction.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist last week called for a special session of the Legislature on an oil-drilling ban in state waters, but the move has elicited criticism from lawmakers who say it’s a waste of money and others who say the limited scope of the session is disappointing.

While Mississippi did not meet its revenue projections in fiscal 2010, Gov. Haley Barbour last week said the decline wasn’t as much as expected and that the state will have a final balance of $50 million to $60 million.

With local Florida governments and school districts reeling from the recession, many are looking for novel ways to increase revenue.

Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman was elected president of the Florida Association of Counties at the organization’s annual conference last week.

A public-private partnership of the Greater Birmingham Regional Planning Commission, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and Norfolk-Southern railroad will study the feasibility of a high-speed rail connection between Birmingham and Atlanta.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Port of Palm Beach, located in one of Florida’s wealthiest areas, saw one of its revenue bond ratings drop below investment grade last week.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Fitch Ratings on Wednesday downgraded the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida to below investment grade because of spending irregularities cited in a recent notice of violation by the National Indian Gaming Commission.