Bankruptcy

In a major development, Detroit bankruptcy mediators announced a settlement on the treatment of the city's limited tax general obligation bonds. Terms were not immediately disclosed.

Covington, Ky.'s former finance director was sentenced to 10 years in prison for embezzling more than $793,000 in city funds, a judge decided June 6.

The Michigan Legislature adjourned for the summer on June 12 after failing to reach an agreement on new transportation funding despite weeks of intensive effort and support from business and labor groups and Gov. Rick Snyder.

Bleary-eyed Rhode Island House members shortly after midnight approved a revised $8.7 billion budget bill that included a $12.5 million payment toward 38 Studios moral obligation debt.

The pressure of meeting retirement obligations is likely to remain a major policy problem for many California cities, highlighted by the Stockton and San Bernardino Chapter 9 bankruptcies.

California's plan to build a $68 billion high speed rail system in the state is being challenged by two counties and a city, which say the plan violates the state's environmental laws.

Two more foundations have pledged $13 million to Detroit's pensions via the Detroit Institute of Arts in a bid to protect the museum's prized art collection as part of a grand bargain worked out by federal court mediators.

A court ruling that California teacher tenure laws in California are unconstitutional could have positive credit implications for school districts, according to Standard & Poor's.

The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority board approved a $230 million interchange project in what was likely its final act before the agency is transferred to a new organization.

Bond insurer Syncora Guarantee said in a court filing that Detroit, as well as federal court mediators and even the bankruptcy judge himself have unfairly singled out the insurer as part of an anti-Wall Street public relations campaign.

Debate over the 38 Studios bond fiasco reheated late into the night as a Rhode Island lawmaker offered a bill to ban a $12.5 payment on moral obligation debt a state agency issued on behalf of the failed video game maker.

Detroit officials will meet Thursday with Ambac Assurance Corp. and Blackrock Financial in a court-ordered mediation session to try to reach a settlement after months of failed talks.

The California Department of Finance scored a win in its court battle with San Bernardino over money transferred to the city following the dissolution of its redevelopment agency.

Five residents living near the Atlanta Falcons new stadium filed notice saying they will appeal a judge's validation of $278.3 million in bonds to support the $1.2 billion project.

Detroit's bankruptcy court judge has delayed the scheduled start date for hearings on the city's confirmation plan by three weeks to Aug. 14.

Detroit's hometown automakers pledged $26 million towards the Detroit Institute of Arts' $100 million share of the so-called "grand bargain" that's a key part of the city's plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

New Jersey police unions have sued state government to force it to make planned payments to the pension systems.

Michigan legislation that raises money for Detroit's pensions marks a "lost opportunity" for bondholders and reflects ongoing tensions between bond and pension recoveries in the bankrupt city, Moody's Investors Service said.

New study links increased public corruption to high levels of state expenditures on highways and other construction projects.

City attorneys should be aware of possible conflicts between the issuer they represent and its employees, financial advisors and counsel about whether to self-report that bond documents failed to disclose violations of a continuing disclosure agreement, regulators and lawyers warned Thursday.