Bankruptcy

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge has cleared Vallejo, Calif., to emerge from bankruptcy after three rocky years of Chapter 9 protection.

CHICAGO - Federal authorities announced the filing in court late last week of a $4.7 billion settlement agreement in their lawsuit against the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta Friday affirmed the conviction of Larry Langford, one-time president of the Jefferson County Commission and former mayor of Birmingham.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners last week sent a new settlement offer to creditors holding $3.14 billion of defaulted variable- and auction-rate sewer warrants.

Ron Davis only recently found out about Central Falls' predicament."Somebody sent me an e-mail two days ago," Davis, the mayor of Prichard, Ala., said Thursday in a telephone interview.But his city of 23,000 residents along Alabama's Gulf Coast and the Rhode Island city in bankruptcy court, both with similar population sizes, have experienced major struggles with pension-debt gridlock.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Rhode Island in Providence has designated the Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing by Central Falls as historical, according to a court filing.

CHICAGO - Lawyers for five Wisconsin school districts trying to recoup their ill-fated $200 million investment in collateralized debt obligations to fund their non-pension retiree health liabilities are engaged in formal mediation talks with the financial firms they blame for their losses.

The bankruptcy filing of Central Falls, R.I., created another ripple Thursday, one day after the city's Chapter 9 case opened in downtown Providence.

SAN FRANCISCO - In one of the most complicated bankruptcy cases involving municipal debt, Las Vegas Monorail Co. bondholders are battling on multiple fronts to try and ­recover some of their money.

The troubled city of Vernon has made important reforms but still needs to do more, according to a watchdog report on the city released this week.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Commissioners in Jefferson County, Ala., planned to meet Thursday to continue discussions about settling with creditors who own $3.14 billion of troubled sewer debt, or else file the largest-ever municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

While the speculative hysteria about across-the-board municipal debt defaults has calmed, many investors are still wondering what bonds remain at risk and how many municipalities will end up in bankruptcy.

As soon as Central Falls, R.I., filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, questions emerged.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Attorneys representing Jefferson County and a financial adviser for Alabama told the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday that there is room for improving disclosure practices while striking a balance with the needs of financially struggling issuers.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Jefferson County, Ala., Thursday agreed to take the next week to review a counteroffer submitted by creditors holding $3.14 billion of variable- and auction-rate sewer warrants on which the government has defaulted.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Monday that requires city officials to disclose their compensation for attending simultaneous or back-to-back meetings. The new law forces a clerk or member of the local legislative body to verbally announce the amount paid to the members.

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.

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.

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Treasurer's Office has admitted law firm Polsinelli Shughart PC into the state's bond counsel pool.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc. and SunTrust Investment Services Inc. a total of $5 million for disclosure and other failures related to underwriting and selling auction-rate securities.