Nevada

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Nevada Treasurer Kate Marshall is fighting for another term against former state controller Steve Martin.

MENLO PARK, Calif. — The Reno City Council meets next week to discuss how the Nevada city can avoid defaulting on bonds backed by a lease with a defunct casino.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Issuers in the Far West sold $43.36 billion of municipal bonds in 672 transactions during the first six months of 2010, according to Thomson Reuters, down from $47.12 billion in 600 transactions in the first half of 2009.

SAN FRANCISCO — When ­Wisconsin’s insurance regulator divided Ambac Assurance Corp.’s insurance portfolio into good and bad policies last week, municipal bonds issued for the bankrupt Las Vegas Monorail were the only muni debt placed into the Ambac rehabilitation account, which consists largely of the toxic mortgage-related securities that brought the company to its knees.

SAN FRANCISCO — A Nevada Supreme Court opinion earlier this year has thrown a big question mark into the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s plans to build 306 miles of pipeline to pump groundwater out the state’s rural northeast into metropolitan Las Vegas.

SAN FRANCISCO — Now that ­Nevada’s governor has signed jobs legislation that emerged from the recent special legislative session, officials in the southern part of the state say they are prepared to hit the debt market to finance the projects that will create those jobs.

SAN FRANCISCO — One of the Nevada local improvement districts that sold land-secured bonds to finance infrastructure at the troubled Lake Las Vegas development made an unscheduled draw on its reserve fund to pay debt service this month, according to a disclosure report filed with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

SAN FRANCISCO — After a sometime acrimonious six-day special session, Nevada lawmakers adjourned in the wee hours of Monday after passing legislation to bring the budget back into balance.

SAN FRANCISCO — The massive bankruptcy filing of the developers of the Lake Las Vegas resort may be heading to a resolution this year, with the debtors proposing a Chapter 11 exit plan they say will provide the best outcome for municipal bonds affected in the filing.

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons Wednesday issued a news release responding to what he described as criticism of budget cut proposals he made earlier in the week, in advance of the Legislature's special session next week.

A bankruptcy judge in Las Vegas is scheduled to hear arguments today over whether or not the Las Vegas Monorail Co. really is an independent nonprofit that is entitled to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

SAN FRANCISCO — If Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons gets his way, there will be no new taxes to fill the state’s gaping budget hole, though residents will be given the option of buying gift certificates to pay teachers’ salaries.

SAN FRANCISCO — Fitch Ratings yesterday cut its outlook on the Truckee Meadows, Nev., Water Authority’s A-rated water revenue bonds to negative from stable ahead of a $31.4 million bond sale next week.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Las Vegas Monorail Co., which has more than $600 million of municipal bonds outstanding, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday.

What do you get when you mix a protracted recession with a series of overly optimistic projections and a credit guarantee from a borderline insolvent bond insurer?

Gov. Jim Gibbons Tuesday announced one new appointment and one reappointment to the Nevada Board of Finance, which among other duties is charged with approving all state-issued debt, including bonds.

SAN FRANCISCO — California, Oregon, and Nevada have taken a harsh battering in the Great Recession, but lawmakers in the three Far West states have reacted very differently.