Bankruptcy

After R.J. Reynolds sold four cigarette brands to ITG Brands, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi sued the companies saying they have refused to comply with terms of the state’s 1997 tobacco settlement deal.

Stephen Reed, Harrisburg, Pa., mayor from 1982 to 2009, pleaded guilty to stealing city-purchased artifacts.

A federal court handed a victory to holders of Puerto Rico Employment Retirement System bonds Tuesday, one of bondholders’ first legal victories since Puerto Rico started defaulting about a year ago.

With a privately owned passenger train service just months away from starting up in south Florida, opponents told a federal judge it would be inequitable to dismiss their lawsuits because of a “backroom” deal involving public financing for the project.

The California Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a group opposing the construction of a new basketball arena in San Francisco.

Capital Hartford is veering out of control toward bankruptcy and needs help from a state already wobbly, said a Manhattan Institute report on Connecticut’s poorest cities.

A five-year-old Illinois law that safeguards not-for-profit hospitals’ local tax exemptions in exchange for meeting minimum charity and community care standards is before the Illinois Supreme Court.

So-called intervention bankruptcy – combining federal and state resources – could help governments manage municipal insolvency, said a Manhattan Institute report.

A federal judge denied a request by two Florida counties for additional documents about public financing for the All Aboard Florida private passenger train project, moving their lawsuits closer to a ruling on dismissal.

A second state appeals court decision in California that rejects a rigid interpretation of the so-called “California Rule” of vested rights has boosted the hopes of those who want to change public pension formulas in the Golden State.