Law and legal issues

San Bernardino experienced another setback in its bankruptcy when the police union's president announced that a breakdown has occurred in a tentative agreement with the city.

Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's say the recent ruling in Stockton, Calif.'s bankruptcy case does not have significant credit implications for Stockton and other distressed municipalities.

A judge's decision that bankrupt California local governments can impair pension obligations could open the door for pension negotiations but won't cause a rush to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, municipal bankruptcy attorneys say.

South Florida environmentalists filed suit Thursday to stop dredging of the channel to ready the PortMiami for opening of the expanded Panama Canal.

Fluvanna County, Va.'s three-year legal tussle with Davenport & Co., has come to a close after the county's Board of Supervisors accepted an offer from the firm to drop its pursuit of $1.6 million in legal fees in exchange for an end to the suit and a public statement by the board retracting the claims it made against Davenport.

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr on Wednesday offered a glimpse into the city's high-stakes negotiations — and subsequent settlements — with bondholders during the course of its historic bankruptcy.

The judge in the Stockton, Calif. bankruptcy case has ruled that a city in Chapter 9 bankruptcy has the power to adjust California Public Employees' Retirement System pensions.

Hawaii judge rules that Hawaii House of Representatives has jurisdiction over residency of legislators, not court, in ruling dismissing lawsuit challenging Hawaii Rep. Calvin Say's residency.

A lease the Pennsylvania government signed for the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority's 12-story Verizon Tower doesn't generate the revenue needed to prevent a default by the city on its debt-service guarantee for the project, said Moody's.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has dismissed a challenge to the investment advisers pay-to-play rule, ruling that it lacks jurisdiction to hear the case.

Detroit's attorneys called a $1.5 billion 2005 certificates of participation financing an "insider deal" that benefited banks and helped doom the struggling city during a federal hearing on the disputed debt issuance.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn ruled Tuesday that appeals in Jefferson County, Ala.'s bankruptcy case will go forward.

A post-bankrupt Detroit will not only be a "normal borrower" within a year, but will be stronger than many credits in the muni market, the city's investment banker testified in federal court Tuesday.

A Lackawanna County Court ruled that Scranton, Pa., overstepped in assessing a commuter tax on nonresidents.

A Brooklyn judge may have brought light to the end of the tunnel for financially struggling SUNY Downstate with a ruling that could facilitate the already agreed transfer of Long Island College Hospital to New York University.

A ruling by a Superior Court judge in Orange County, Calif., Friday cleared the way for the Anaheim City Council to sell $300 million in bonds to pay for a 200,000-square-foot convention center expansion.

The city treasury of Harrisburg, Pa., is free of security breaches, its interim treasurer said, after an investigation that followed his predecessor's arrest for theft from two local nonprofits.

Bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., the last major holdout creditor in Detroit's bankruptcy, is reportedly nearing a settlement with the city that includes a mix of cash and city assets.

A Superior Court judge in Riverside County will hear arguments Oct. 31 on a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by Ontario, California seeking the return of its airport from Los Angeles.

The judge overseeing a retiree lawsuit challenging the city of Pontiac's effort to cut retiree health care benefits has ordered the parties into in mediation with one of the mediators of the Detroit bankruptcy case, while the city has hired Detroit's top restructuring firm to analyze its options for paying off the debt.