Far West

A bankruptcy judge in Santa Rosa gave final approval Friday to a liquidation plan for the assets of Copia, the failed tax-exempt bond financed nonprofit wine museum in the city of Napa.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California this week approved a $350 million subsidy that backers said is crucial to financing the state’s first large-scale desalination plant, which will be located in Carlsbad.

SAN FRANCISCO — California Controller John Chiang delivered a rare piece of good news this week in his monthly general fund cash report, saying the state beat its budget ­estimates for October.

WASHINGTON — State budget cuts will cause a drop of nearly one percentage point in the gross domestic product in fiscal year 2011 unless the federal government extends its aid to states beyond Dec. 31, 2010, when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act programs expire, economists and budget analysts warned yesterday.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has entered negotiations with the San Diego Chargers in hopes of reaching a stadium deal that would keep the National Football League team in the city.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd yesterday unveiled a massive draft regulatory reform bill that envisions a more independent and powerful Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

WASHINGTON — The top lawyer for the House’s tax-writing committee said yesterday that it is a given the Build America Bonds program will be extended beyond its current deadline at the end of 2010 and that there is a strong argument for it to be made permanent as soon as possible.

WASHINGTON — Market participants are pushing for states or the federal government to take a “programmatic” rather than a piecemeal or project-by-project approach to financing infrastructure through public-private partnerships.

SAN FRANCISCO — Voters in Washington State last week rejected a ballot measure to limit governments’ revenue growth, while voters in Seattle split nearly down the middle in trying to pick their next mayor.

David Rubin, founder of CDR Financial Products Inc., and two colleagues on Friday pleaded not guilty to criminal antitrust, wire fraud and other charges stemming from an alleged conspiracy to rig bids for municipal investment agreements and derivatives contracts for kickbacks.