Southeast

BRADENTON, Fla. - A federal judge in Alabama Wednesday dismissed the Securities and Exchange Commission's suit against former Birmingham Mayor and Jefferson County Commission president Larry Langford, ending a case that began more than three years ago.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The trustee for the Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority's $115.9 million of defaulted bonds is providing financial support to entice volunteers to serve on the authority's board, according to the Florida state representative who negotiated the deal.

The Rankin County School Board failed to get the votes necessary in a referendum last week to authorize the issuance of $169.5 million of general obligation bonds.

The Louisiana Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget last week accepted a revised business plan for a $1.088 billion state hospital in New Orleans.

Fitch Ratings on Friday lowered the rating on Hollywood, Fla.’s general obligation bonds to A from A-plus, citing a structural budget imbalance and “consistently optimistic revenue projections.”

Cash-strapped Jefferson County got a small windfall last week when a local judge ordered the return of $6.4 million from escrowed occupational taxes.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Georgia Department of Transportation Monday issued a request for proposals for the state's first public-private partnership concession.

The Internal Revenue Service has completed an audit of $51.1 million of auction-rate securities the Orange County, Fla., Health Facilities Authority issued in 2005 for an Orlando health care provider without changing the tax-exempt status of the bonds.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority is asking construction industry professionals and others to help it build the Ohio River Bridges Project faster and less expensively.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Jefferson County, Ala., Commission Friday avoided filing the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history by agreeing to a restructuring deal with creditors holding about $3.11 billion of defaulted variable- and auction-rate sewer warrants.