Southeast

DALLAS - A $748 million capital improvement plan for East Baton Rouge Parish was rebuffed on Wednesday when the Metropolitan Council refused to consider a request by Mayor-President Melvin "Kip" Holden to set a November election date.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Jefferson County, Ala., on Tuesday hired a national bankruptcy law firm to help determine whether to proceed with the largest Chapter 9 filing ever in the United States.

Boone County Schools in West Virginia is asking voters to pass a bond referendum next month. The Board of Education wants to sell $45.2 million of general obligation bonds in two series with 20-year maturities. Early voting will be held Aug. 5-17. Election day is Aug. 20.

The West Virginia Economic Development Authority closed on the sale of $90.8 million of lease revenue refunding bonds that achieved a net present-value savings of $6.39 million over the remaining life of the bonds, officials said.

Standard & Poor’s last week upgraded Greenville’s general obligation bond rating to AAA from AA-plus. The agency also raised the city’s limited obligation bond rating to AA from AA-minus. The outlook is stable.

The infrastructure set to be financed with East Baton Rouge Parish’s proposed $748 bond package is vital to public safety and security, Mayor-President Melvin "Kip" Holden said Monday in a briefing at the Baton Rouge Press Club.

The Atlanta City Council is taking its message straight to constituents via social networking — an approach growing popular with local governments.

The Florida Supreme Court last week upheld a $28.3 million judgment against the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.. The award goes to the relatives of a Pensacola man who died 16 years ago.

DALLAS — Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy Tuesday night will hear from opponents as well as backers of a proposed $1.2 billion, 424-bed state academic medical center in New Orleans.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Commissioners in Jefferson County, Ala., will again meet in a special closed-door session this week in Birmingham to discuss a wide range of issues, including the possibility of filing for municipal bankruptcy.