California

A Southern California company with $157 million of municipal bonds and once hailed as a model of cutting-edge technology is in liquidation. Enertech Environmental Inc. is in the process of being liquidated, said Geoffrey Berman, a vice president at Development Specialists Inc., a restructuring firm.

The Los Angeles City Council voted to approve negotiations with Ontario, Calif. officials that could result in L.A./Ontario airport being returned to local control.

The credit worthiness of charter schools were called called into question a few weeks ago when Fitch Ratings put all of the charter school bonds it rates on negative watch.

Long Beach, Calif. educators warned that K-12 schools and universities face steep budget cuts if voters reject Gov. Jerry Brown's Proposition 30 tax measure.

Fitch Ratings removed Baldwin Park, Calif. tax allocation bonds from negative ratings watch but affirmed their speculative BB rating and kept the outlook negative.

Moody's hit 54 California city ratings with downgrades or downgrade reviews after a sector review launched after three California cities filed for bankruptcy.

Victorville, Calif. officials have rejected a compensation claim by bond underwriter Kinsell, Newcomb & De Dios for the costs of investigations into the city's finances and bond transactions.

West Coast nonprofit hospital chain Dignity Health, formerly Catholic Healthcare West, was downgraded ahead of plans to sell up to $500 million in taxable bonds.

California Gov. Jerry Brown's recent vetoes of bills designed to reintroduce tax-increment financing will likely postpone, rather than kill, the return of some form of redevelopment.

California's state school superintendent, Tom Torlakson, appointed Kent Taylor to run the insolvent Inglewood Unified School District.

Standard & Poor's downgraded Fullerton, Calif. as the city fights with the state over which redevelopment obligations the city must cover.

A judge ruled in favor of Oakland in its pursuit of alleged overpayments to retirees in a long-closed police and fire pension fund.

Standard & Poor's placed three series of BB-rated Hercules Public Finance Authority bonds on watch for a potential downgrade.

JPMorgan Chase agreed to mentor San Diego-based broker dealer Academy Securities, a certified disabled veteran business enterprise with a municipal bond market presence.

The San Diego City Council approved a financial plan for its convention center expansion that involves issuing $549.5 million in bonds.

California Treasurer Bill Lockyer gauges the state is going to see a more than triple increase in new money general obligation bond sales this fiscal year compared to last.

California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill known as Redevelopment 2.0 and other redevelopment-related measures in the final hours before his Sunday night deadline to act on legislation from the 2012 session.

The troubled city of Hercules, Calif., is facing a ticking debt-service clock as it banks on selling its utility in order to redeem bonds.

If approved by San Diego County Water Authority's board, a $3 billion water purchase agreement with Stamford-based Poseidon Resources released Thursday could bring to realization Poseidon's 10-year effort to build a seawater desalination plant in Carlsbad.

California school districts and local governments have placed local bond measures totaling $14.7 billion on the ballot hoping for the enhanced success rate typical of presidential elections.