Far West

WASHINGTON — Douglas Lee Campbell, a former senior vice president and marketer in Bank of America’s municipal derivatives group, pleaded guilty Thursday to three criminal counts for engaging in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies connected with guaranteed investment contract and other municipal finance agreements.

WASHINGTON — Five airports will receive a total of $9 million in unexpected grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act because of lower-than-expected bids on other airports’ stimulus projects.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California can make it through September without starting to issue IOUs, Controller John Chiang said Thursday when he released his monthly report on the state’s cash position.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has issued draft guidance warning broker’s brokers of their obligations under its rules following recent enforcement actions by the Securities Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority alleging rule violations.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California school districts will ask their voters for almost $4 billion of general obligation bond authority this November, a much smaller amount than was at stake in the last general ­election.

WASHINGTON — The Cinco Municipal Utility District No. 1 near Houston announced that the Internal Revenue Service has closed an audit of $5.2 million of revenue bonds it issued with no change to their tax-exempt status.

WASHINGTON — Federal lawmakers return to work next week, but market participants warn it is unlikely they will take action on proposals to ­extend expiring tax programs like Build America Bonds or extend income tax cuts for the middle class before the November ­elections.

MENLO PARK, Calif. — Sacramento’s sanitation district may be forced by California to spend more than $2 billion to raise its wastewater purification standards to comply with more stringent environmental rules.

WASHINGTON — With the 2010 elections close at hand, Democrats are at risk of losing their No. 2 lawmaker on the House Financial Services Committee.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission will kick off its much-awaited series of hearings on the municipal market this month, holding the first on Tuesday, Sept. 21, in San Francisco.