Southwest

Garland County, Ark.’s proposals to raise the sales tax rate to build and operate a new jail in Hot Springs received a 64% favorable margin at last week’s election. More than 10,300 votes were cast, and the plan prevailed in 40 of the county’s 42 precincts.

A recent downgrade of some Surprise, Ariz., municipal bonds provided ammunition for mayoral candidate Sharon Wolcott’s campaign against incumbent Lyn Truitt in the election on Nov. 8.

DALLAS - Texas Gov. Rick Perry's office rejected doubling the salary of the Texas Department of Transportation's executive director but did authorize a salary above a statutory maximum of $292,500, officials said.

DALLAS - Phil Wilson, a former aide to Gov. Rick Perry recently named executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, should be paid twice as much as his predecessor, according to the new chairman of the board that oversees TxDOT.

DALLAS - Standard & Poor's on Wednesday lowered its rating on the Arizona Transportation Board's subordinate-lien highway revenue bonds to AA-plus from AAA with a negative outlook.

DALLAS - A coalition of school districts and taxpayers has filed suit in a Travis County state court to overturn Texas' system for funding public education.

DALLAS - Standard & Poor's on Tuesday lowered $35.8 million of outstanding Texas Midwest Public Facility Corp.'s 2009 revenue bonds to D from CC after the issuer defaulted on debt service for its vacant private jail in Jones County.

DALLAS — A lengthy drought is putting a stranglehold on Texas water utilities that can only be alleviated by significant rainfall this winter, Fitch Ratings said in a new report assessing the economic impact of months of no or below-average rainfall in the Lone Star State.

LOS ANGELES - Fitch Ratings could cut bond ratings on the National Basketball Association, Los Angeles' Staples Center, and Denver's Pepsi Center if the NBA fails to reach an agreement with players and cancels the season.

The North Texas Tollway Authority last week approved the sale of bonds for Chisholm Trail Parkway in Fort Worth under the agency’s special projects system.