Far West

Moody's Investors Service cut Fresno, Calif.'s sewer revenue bonds one notch to A1 from Aa3 because of the city's financial problems.

California November tax revenues in November were more than 10% below budget estimates partly due to lower than expected collections from Facebook share sales, according to Controller John Chiang.

The recently appointed administrator of an insolvent Southern California school district, resigned after state officials learned he overstepped his authority by making tentative agreements with the teacher's union.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has changed how it calculates "bid to cover" ratios for auction-rate securities to make the data more indicative of investor demand.

The Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt bond office will continue sending out its semiannual newsletter in 2013 after favorable feedback to its second edition.

Rialto, Calif. will turn over its water and sewer utilities to a public-private partnership in a deal that will see the municipal debt associated with those deals retired.

In response to a spate of municipal bankruptcies and ongoing fiscal challenges at the local level, the California Treasurer's office has embarked on a project aimed at predicting cities' likelihood of defaulting on bonds.

California's state and local fiscal policies and the impact on credit ratings came under fire during a UCLA Anderson Forecast presentation Tuesday on the college campus.

Speaking in Washington before a Senate panel, Joseph Lhota, chairman of New York's MTA, urged federal help for his hurricane-battered transit system.

An agitated U.S. Secretary of Transportation reiterated the Obama administration's support for high-speed rail investment, and fought vigorously to defend the controversial and partly bond-funded $68 billion bullet train initiative in California.