Law and legal issues

Victorville staff have recommended that the City Council reject the claims by Kinsell, Newcomb & De Dios for their costs in dealing with probes by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the San Bernardino County grand jury stemming from bond deals involving KND.

Alleging theft and securities fraud, local and state prosecutors in Missouri and federal regulators took aim Tuesday at the former head of the company that last year abandoned a half-built artificial sweetener plant financed with $39 million of debt backed by the city of Moberly.

A Dane County judge last week struck down portions of Wisconsin's law limiting collective bargaining rights, finding that it violated the rights of union members.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last week filed a federal lawsuit to halt a new $245 million American Indian-owned casino set to open in downtown Lansing later this year.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and local prosecutors announced the filing of criminal charges that includes securities fraud Tuesday against the former chief executive officer of Mamtek US., the company that abandoned a half-built bond-financed plant in Moberly.

The University of Colorado Hospital Authority will issue $290 million of bonds this week to add Memorial Health System of Colorado Springs to its new statewide network in a deal nearly sidelined by a lawsuit over pension programs.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority will hold a $1 billion refunding bond sale as budget uncertainty, a court appeal and fare increases hover.

Port St. Lucie, Fla. is telling bondholders that the bankruptcy of Digital Domain will not impede debt-service payments on bonds issued for the firm's abandoned campus there.

After an overhaul of its parking authority, the Scranton, Pa., City Council voted unanimously to cover an authority bond payment due Saturday.

The Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority, which built a north Florida toll bridge with bonds that are now in default, will ask the trustee to fund its first audit in 12 years.

MBIA Inc. is fielding a new law suit and Assured Guaranty is seeking an additional credit rating.

The Atlanta City Council last week agreed to pay a $136,000 settlement to the city's former chief financial officer, Joya De Foor.

To no one's surprise, Harrisburg, Pa., will miss its GO bond payment for the second time this year. Observers say the move won't ripple the bond markets.

In a move that came as no surprise, receiver William Lynch said Harrisburg, Pa., will skip its $3.4 million general obligation bond payment due this week.

The Troy Downtown Development Authority says it will default on nearly $17 million of TIF bonds by November 2013. The bond insurer has threatened to sue or request state intervention if it is forced to cover the obligation and the city doesn't pledge to repay.

Whether Central Falls, R.I.'s bankruptcy reorganization could serve as a national model, as its presiding judge suggested, remains an open question.

The Arizona Supreme Court upheld an appeals court ruling that allows voters in Glendale the opportunity to repeal the city's recent sales tax increase.

Three groups have filed complaints stating that federal approval for the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges Project should be thrown out because laws were violated.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Friday declared the Detroit suburb of Allen Park to be in a state of fiscal emergency, due in part to the city's struggle to pay $31 million of general obligation bonds issued for a now-failed film studio project.

A federal court on Thursday afternoon approved the reorganization plan and subsequent bankruptcy exit for Central Falls, R.I., only 13 months after it filed.