Far West

Standard & Poor's raised its long-term rating to A-plus from A on the Ukiah Redevelopment Agency, Calif.'s series 2011A tax allocation bonds, citing increased assessed value.

Raymond James continues its expansion in California with the recent hiring of veteran education banker Charlie Feinstein in San Francisco.

The New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority appears to be settling a tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over revenue bonds it issued in 1993 for Deborah Heart and Lung Center, which later entered into a total return swap.

Fitch Ratings' Amy Laskey disputes the notion that the rating agency's action on San Diego school district bonds was a shift in approach.

Fitch Ratings, reframing its view of the special taxes that support local California GO bonds, assigned its AAA rating to a school district based solely on the special tax without regard to the district's budget and operations.

The Alaska legislature has passed legislation appropriating almost $150 million for a gas pipeline project that Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has said will be key to closing the state's $3.5 billion budget deficit gap.

The House adopted a six-year, $325 billion transportation funding measure that must be reconciled by Nov. 20 with Senate's $342 billion plan.

The relatively opaque private placement market, which has been very strong in California, may be slowing down and shifting from a bank-dominated market to a more diverse range of purchasers.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D- N.Y., introduced a bill Wednesday that would substantially increase hedge fund reporting requirements in response to ongoing concerns about hedge funds' role in Puerto Rico's financial crisis.

A state audit of Beaumont, Calif. found that the Southern California city failed to properly track spending of $626 million in bonds.