Law and legal issues

Pennsylvania filed criminal charges against a former state senator and several former Turnpike officials with using pay-to-play schemes that include bond underwriter PNC Captial Markets.

Birmingham, Ala.'s $75 million general obligation sale will use a convertible capital appreciation bond structure; the city wants to avoid confusion with bankrupt Jefferson County.

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its B3 rating on bankrupt Jefferson County, Ala.'s $747 million of school warrants. The outlook remains negative.

The company that operates parking garages at Yankee Stadium and is staring at about $240 million of debt has hired bankruptcy counsel, according to a regulatory filing.

A San Diego Superior Court judge rendered a tentative ruling on Monday upholding a hotel tax that will back bonds for San Diego's $520 million plans to expand its convention center.

Detroit officials at an appeals hearing in Lansing Tuesday said Michigan should craft a stronger consent agreement to help stabilize the city instead of taking Detroit over by appointing an emergency financial manager.

A Rhode Island judge removed a major hurdle to pension overhaul in Providence by calling a deal with police and fire retirees "fair, adequate and reasonable."

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick headed straight to jail Monday just hours after a jury found him guilty of 24 counts in a months-long federal corruption trial.

The state-appointed budget commission that oversees finances in East Providence, R.I., will conclude its work this month because the city's financial condition is better.

Democrat and former city community development director Joseph Caramone joined the open-seat race for mayor in distressed Scranton, Pa.

The Cincinnati City Council Wednesday narrowly approved a controversial plan to lease the city's parking system for an upfront payment to offset a budget shortfall - but a judge almost immediately issued an injunction to halt the deal.

A federal judge has postponed sentencing of two former CDR Financial Products Inc., staffers until after the bid-rigging trial against former Bank of America executive Phillip Dennis Murphy, which is slated to start Feb. 3, 2014.

City employees in insolvent San Bernardino, Calif. are receiving nearly $1 million in pay raises despite the city's shaky financial situation.

A hearing is slated for Friday that could determine the fate of the planned $250 million expansion of the San Diego convention center, according to UT San Diego.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said Wednesday he would not fight the state's plan to appoint an emergency financial manager to take over the city, just an hour after the city council formally requested a hearing to appeal the appointment.

The SEC's whistleblower office is seeking additional details about a complaint that Scranton, Pa., misled in a bond document regarding the nature of a tax hike.

Some Alabama state legislators upset about the downsizing of Jefferson County, Ala.'s indigent care hospital have filed bills that would increase disclosure requirements and redirect indigent funds.

A judge last week agreed to allow a lawsuit to proceed that challenges Chicago's 99-year, $563 million lease of four downtown parking garages to a private consortium.

French bank Societe Generale sold its holdings in bankrupt Jefferson County, Ala.'s sewer warrants, and has asked to withdraw from two potentially precedent-setting appeals.

Ambac Assurance Corp. has agreed to discontinue its lawsuit brought against Credit Suisse in 2010 over misrepresentations on mortgage-backed securities insured in 2007.