Law and legal issues

Charges were dropped against one person after former Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority board member Scott Batterson gets prison.

The trial on Detroit's debt-adjustment plan adjourned after court-appointed finance expert Martha Kopacz testified that its plan to exit Chapter 9 bankruptcy is feasible.

Harrisburg, Pa., will start the clock again for yet another city treasurer after Timothy East resigned following revelations of his personal bankruptcy. He had been named to the position in September after predecessor John Campbell was charged with theft from two nonprofit groups.

Timothy East became the second Harrisburg, Pa., treasurer to resign in two months, a city official confirmed late Tuesday.

More details on Detroit's crucial settlement with bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. emerged Tuesday, while testimony on the feasibility of the city's bankruptcy exit plan is expected to come Wednesday, the final day of the historic trial.

Moody's Investors Service dropped its rating on Detroit's $1.5 billion of certificates of participation to C from Ca, saying proposed settlements with insurers mean recoveries well below the Ca category.

Colorado lawmakers did not violate the Colorado constitution by reducing cost of living adjustments for retired public employees, the state Supreme Court ruled.

Alabama House of Representatives speaker Mike Hubbard faces 23 felony ethics law violations after being indicted by a grand jury on Monday.

A Michigan authority created to oversee the disbursement of nearly $200 million of state aid to bankrupt Detroit held its first meeting in Lansing last week.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes is set to rule on Detroit's bankruptcy late in the first week of November, likely putting it past the state's gubernatorial election.

An extra layer of state oversight loosely based on the Harrisburg receivership may evolve from Pennsylvania's new time limit for distressed municipalities to stay in its Act 47 program.

The board of Wayne County, Mich. has rejected a plan to move a half-built abandoned jail site in downtown Detroit, making it more likely the county will restart the controversial, bond-financed project.

Three New Mexico school districts are suing the state to boost funding that ranks among the lowest in the nation per pupil.

Detroit's convention center is hitting the market Wednesday with $300 million of bonds that marks its first public offering since it was taken over by a regional authority in 2009.

In a major boost for California's high-speed rail project, the California Supreme Court declined to consider petitions challenging funding for the state's bullet train.

The mayor of bankrupt San Bernardino and the city's police union both claim the other side attempted to violate the terms of a tentative contract agreement reached in confidential mediations.

Moody's Investor’s Service returned Vadnais Heights, Minn.'s general obligation bonds to low investment grade, now that a resolution is in place on $27 million of bonds that defaulted after the city failed to honor a pledge on a sports complex.

Sound fiscal practices are vital for Pennsylvania's distressed cities, regardless of how long they stay in the state-sponsored Act 47 workout program, analysts say. A new law will limit cities' stay in Act 47.

Detroit reached a settlement with FGIC, the last major holdout creditor in its bankruptcy case, that gives the bond insurer a mix of cash and prime downtown Detroit land to build a new hotel and condominiums.

Officials in Wayne County, Mich., are contemplating the fate of a half-built, bond-financed jail in downtown Detroit that has been abandoned for more than a year amid major cost overruns and an FBI investigation.