Bankruptcy

The City Council in financially strapped Harrisburg is considering a series of bills to increase parking revenue.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Supreme Court this week left intact a lower court ruling that keeps alive efforts to resurrect litigation that resulted in a $10.1 billion verdict against Philip Morris USA Inc. in a case over the company's marketing of "light" cigarettes.

With the stroke of a pen, California Gov. Jerry Brown could avoid one of the largest municipal bond defaults of 2011. If not, the San Jose Redevelopment Agency could default on nearly $100 million of variable-rate debt this November.

The Los Angeles Unified School District board voted last week to join opponents of local redevelopment agencies in the legal battle over who should control redevelopment funds, according to the Los Angeles Times.

California’s budget has inspired three new lawsuits this week, adding to worries about its viability.

While Pennsylvania lawmakers are crafting a state takeover of Harrisburg, officials in the financially strapped capital aren't giving up control without a fight.

DALLAS - More than 100 school districts in Texas have passed board resolutions to join a promised legal challenge seeking to reconfigure the state's system for financing public education.

Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners offered the position of county manager to Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos Tuesday. He accepted and will start Tuesday, according to published reports.

Gov. Robert Bentley last week said Alabama would appeal after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refused a request from his state and Florida to reconsider a ruling that allows Atlanta and other surrounding communities to withdraw drinking water from Lake Lanier.

Two Pennsylvania lawmakers on Tuesday began fast-tracking legislation that would enable a takeover of capital city Harrisburg and authorize Gov. Tom Corbett to declare a state of emergency.

RBC Capital Markets LLC will pay $30.4 million to settle charges filed Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission accusing the firm of misconduct for its role in the sale of unsuitably risky investment products to five Wisconsin school districts.

SAN FRANCISCO - Vallejo, Calif., hasn't quite wiggled out of bankruptcy, nearly two months after getting a judge's approval for its exit plan.

Arizona school districts may not use leftover bond money on projects that were not specifically approved by voters, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled.

Supporters of the library in bankrupt Central Falls, R.I. have scheduled a “Save the Library” fundraiser for Sept. 30 to help keep it open.

WASHINGTON - A bond lawyers' group is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow issuers to disclose interim financial action without fear of possible enforcement action by the agency.

Closing in on the one-year anniversary of its bankruptcy filing, Ambac Financial Group has filed a new reorganization plan that all parties involved have agreed on.

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.

California Gov. Jerry Brown is weighing one bill that secures bondholders if a hospital declares bankruptcy, and has already signed another that proponents said could help corporate investment in municipal bonds.

CHICAGO - The St. Paul Port Authority and a group of investors holding a portion of $51.7 million of defaulted industrial revenue bonds will ask a judge Thursday to preliminarily approve a proposed class-action settlement that could end five years of litigation over the fate of the long-troubled 876 Bond Fund.

CHICAGO - Holders of $18 million of unrated debt issued for a large suburban Cincinnati mall are working to extend a forbearance agreement with the project's owners, who have failed to make debt service payments on the bonds since 2008.