Far West

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is considering selling bonds backed by islands as collateral, and legalizing gambling in an effort to tackle its pension problem.

Chris Lytle was named the new executive director of the Port of Oakland last week, according to a release from the port's board of commissioners.

The Los Angeles City Council approved a plan to merge two Los Angeles departments.

Moody's Investors Service upgraded to Baa1 from Ba1 the rating to the Successor Agency of the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Santa Monica Calif.'s earthquake tax allocation bonds impacting $39.8 million in outstanding long-term debt.

Gov. Jerry Brown's administration has ordered an independent review of the California Department of Transportation amid controversy over the new span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Standard & Poor's said in a report Wednesday that California's revised budget would allow for more financial flexibility for schools, generally a "positive credit factor."

Fitch Ratings structured finance analysts warned that current housing prices in certain California markets are unsustainable.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved revisions that will tighten the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's rule on telemarketing so that it require dealers, among other things, to respect customers "do not call" requests indefinitely rather than for just five years.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., has introduced a bipartisan bill that would allow states ravaged by Hurricane Sandy to issue billions of dollars of private activity bonds outside federal and state volume caps to pay for the rebuilding of docks, commuting facilities, multi-family housing and infrastructure facilities.

California Controller John Chiang issues scathing report on Bell, Calif. but city officials say they are close to clearing up their audits and a $39 million bond default involving Dexia.