Bankruptcy

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Less than six years after Oregon Coast Aquarium bondholders agreed to a substantial haircut to keep the nonprofit out of bankruptcy court, the facility is again struggling with its debt service requirements.

WASHINGTON — A federal bankruptcy judge has approved the restructuring and reorganization of the debt of the Connector 2000 Association, a beleaguered toll road operator in Greenville, S.C.

VICTORVILLE, Calif. — Despite a tempest of bad news about its finances, Victorville city leaders say bondholders are safe.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida lawmakers are moving forward to consolidate three toll-road authorities in a revised plan that now excludes the financially ailing Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority, which appears headed for a bond payment default this year.

WASHINGTON — A South Carolina bankruptcy judge held a hearing Friday to consider the restructuring plan for the Connector 2000 Association Inc., the bankrupt South Carolina toll road operator, setting up the issuer’s exit from bankruptcy after years of uncertainty for bondholders.

CHICAGO — An appeal challenging Wisconsin’s controversial legislation that strips most public unions of much of their collective bargaining powers and raises employee pension contributions and health care premiums should go directly to the state Supreme Court, an appellate panel said Thursday.

CHICAGO — Chicago plans to sell $1 billion of O’Hare International Airport third-lien general airport revenue bonds next month.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s muni enforcement priorities include staying on top of undisclosed pension liabilities, faulty bond valuation and pricing, and undisclosed potential tax ­violations that could jeopardize the tax-exempt status of bonds, the SEC’s top cop said Wednesday.

Jefferson County will not ask the Alabama Supreme Court for a rehearing on its occupational tax ruling, the Birmingham News reported Tuesday.

A federal trial challenging Alabama’s school-funding formula started Monday in Huntsville before Judge Lynwood Smith. The suit was filed two years ago by parents in rural north Alabama counties who claim that state funding for the public education system is based on a discriminatory formula that includes the lowest property-tax rate in the country.

The 11 banks contesting MBIA Inc.’s February 2009 restructuring have long said the regulatory process allowing the move was based on outdated and inaccurate financial information. Now, they have evidence.

CHICAGO — The bankrupt Fairview Obligated Group, operator of several Chicago-area continuing care retirement communities, will hold an auction next month on its Rockford campus as investors who hold $57 million of mostly tax-exempt debt await word on how much they stand to recoup.

LOS ANGELES — California’s Sierra Kings Healthcare District is nearing a deal that could lead to its exit from Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen Monday asked a state appellate court to lift a lower court’s temporary restraining order blocking the controversial budget-repair measure recently signed by Gov. Scott Walker from becoming law.

A judge last week rejected Harrisburg’s request to dismiss or postpone two lawsuits filed by bond trustees of the city’s $282 million of incinerator debt and by Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., the insurer of the bonds.

The former city administrator of the scandalized city of Bell, Calif., has been ordered to stand trial on more than 50 felony charges.

Troubled bond insurer Ambac Assurance Corp. posted a gain in its statutory surplus even as its bankrupt parent recorded a net loss in its fourth-quarter filing Wednesday.

CHICAGO — The Minnesota attorney general’s office and lawyers representing state retirees in a lawsuit challenging legislation that curbed future increases in their pension benefits will return to court Tuesday to argue their sides.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Alabama Supreme Court Wednesday struck down an occupational tax that provided one-third of Jefferson County’s general fund revenues, potentially setting the stage for the county to file for the largest municipal bankruptcy in history.

DALLAS — Glendale, Ariz.’s plan to sell $100 million of revenue bonds to finance the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team to Chicago investor Matthew Hulsizer appeared to be on hold after the Goldwater Institute confirmed plans to challenge the deal in court.