Bankruptcy

But the teetering city, frozen out of the capital markets and under national glare for paying employees the minimum wage in defiance of a court order, must agree to a revised recovery plan.

California should brace for more municipal bankruptcies as its local governments continue to strain under the weight of national and local economic policies, according to experts.

San Bernardino's City Manager said Thursday the city is still considering plans on whether to declare bankruptcy or to enter mediation with creditors.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday granted permission for nine petitioners to directly appeal federal Judge Thomas Bennett's ruling that stripped a state-court appointed receiver of the right to run Jefferson County's sewer system.

San Bernardino's surprise decision to file for bankruptcy, becoming the third California city to do so in less than a month, has shaken the municipal market and set up a likely showdown with bondholders.

Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. Tuesday asked Jefferson County, Ala.'s bankruptcy judge to order the county to file a plan of adjustment by the end of September.

The broke city has yet another problem. It can't sell its sewer conveyance system to a local authority, as projected, because the authority has owned it since 1968.

An Ingham County judge shot down the Detroit Corporation Counsel's motion to reconsider the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenging the city's consent decree with the state. The decision removes one hurdle from the path of a badly needed bond transaction for the city.

Lawyers for former UBS Financial Services Inc. bankers Peter Ghavami, Gary Heinz and Michael Welty requested permission from the court to present evidence on municipal bond transactions other than 38 specific deals highlighted by prosecutors.

A Federal appeals court refused a rehearing on its decision to reject federal permits for North Carolina's Monroe Connector toll road.

The city council in San Bernardino, Calif., citing continuing deficits and the depletion of its general fund reserves, voted Tuesday night to authorize the city to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

In the aftermath of financial guarantees by Scranton, Penn. and Stockton, Calif. recently contributing to the cities' defaults, the Government Accounting Standards Board is seeking to improve the visibility of these guarantees.

A retired state judge has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a new Illinois law that overhauls the state's retiree healthcare program and shifting more of the funding burden for premiums to beneficiaries.

William Lynch wants a state court to force the City Council to raise the earned-income levy to 1.5% from 0.5%.

Detroit faces two new lawsuits challenging the city's recent consent decree with the state about its finances.

Linda Thompson proposes ending a five-year old incinerator fee agreement with the Harrisburg Authority public works agency that she said would redirect $275,000 per year to Pennsylvania's distressed capital city.

Moody's Investors Service said Monday that a recent ruling in Jefferson County, Ala.'s bankruptcy case is a credit positive because it will prevent revenues securing the county's $3.14 billion of defaulted sewer warrants from being further diluted.

A Lackawanna County, Pa., judge late Friday enjoined Scranton from paying its employees only the federal minimum wage, but the mayor of the cash-strapped city said there's no money left with which to comply.

A U.S. appeals court will take up a lawsuit as early as October that attacks the financial backing of billions of bonds paying for the Washington Metrorail's Silver Line Extension to Dulles Airport.

Northeast public officials are glancing westward for any precedent that could emerge from that northern California city's bankruptcy filing.