Pennsylvania

Officials from Highmark and West Penn Allegheny Health System spoke with an eye toward resuming talks about a $475 million affiliation agreement.

F. John White, managing director and chairman of Public Financial Management Group, was an inaugural recipient of a Fels Institute of Government Leadership Award.

Acting on an emergency basis, the City Council in cash-strapped Scranton, Pa., adopted a 1% commuter tax, which still needs approval from a Lackawanna County Court.

Roger Nutt will resign as chief executive of the embattled Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which the state auditor said was "drowning in debt."

Harrisburg, Pa. receiver William Lynch named an entity created by Guggenheim Securities to negotiate exclusively for a long-term lease to manage city parking garages.

Former Harrisburg, Pa., mayor Stephen Reed blamed initially low cost estimates for incinerator-related debt that ballooned into a $340 million debt crisis.

Investigator Steven Goldfield of Public Resources Advisory Group told a Pennsylvania Senate committee frequent red flags were ignored while Harrisburg incinerator-related debt spiraled.

Highmark has sued West Penn Allegheny Health for calling off their $475 million merger, calling the action a contract breach and "a flight from reality."

The IRS has closed an audit without changing the tax-exempt status of $31.23 million of health center revenue bonds that were issued by the Lebanon County Health Facilities Authority in 2005 on behalf of the Pleasant View Retirement Community Project.

Harrisburg, Pa., has enough cash through November and delaying payments to some vendors could help it make through the end of the year, a state official said.

Moody's placed the Caa1 rating of West Penn Allegheny Health System, one of the top speculative-grade issuers, under review after a merger fell through.

Pennsylvania, the latest state to issue unemployment compensation revenue bonds, plans to go to market Monday and Tuesday with $2.6 billion.

Bond-rating downgrades to Pennsylvania communities will outpace upgrades over 12 to 18 months as local governments continue to face credit pressure, according to Moody's.

Harrisburg City Council member Brad Koplinski introduced legislation to allow the sale of the city's Wild West artifacts to proceed.

Philadelphia's non-union employees and supervisors will receive a 2.5% pay raise as part of a new compensation and benefits overhaul package.

The Allegheny County Airport Authority, Pa. is requesting bids for natural-gas drilling at Pittsburgh International and Allegheny County airports.

Allegheny County, Pa., whose seat is Pittsburgh, will sell $169 million in general obligation bonds, with officials relieved over no rating downgrade.

Public hearings on the debt structure of the Harrisburg, Pa., incinerator retrofit project have been rescheduled for Oct. 4.

Gov. Tom Corbett has named William Sasso of Gwynedd Valley chairman of the Pennsylvania Infrastructure and Investment Authority, or Pennvest.

Harrisburg, Pa.'s mayor has requested a $6,500 increase in travel costs above what the City Council allocated her office in fiscal 2012.