Law and legal issues

The Florida Department of Transportation extended the suspension of Garcon Point Bridge toll collections because it is being used as a detour.

Toll collections on the Garcon Point Bridge have been suspended since mid-September because of Hurricane Sally, pitting the bond trustee against the state of Florida again.

Initiative 976, which would have cut car registration fees, would also required Sound Transit “to retire, defease, or refinance bonds”

The troubled south Chicago suburb hired Meristem Advisors to assist with the restructuring it agreed to in a consent decree with holders of defaulted bonds.

Detroit is selling $80 million of its speculative grade-rated GO paper with more on tap should voters sign off on $250 million of blight borrowing.

The lawsuit seeks up to $2 billion from JPMorgan, Stifel and Wells Fargo, saying they abetted the crisis in their role selling debt for the Karegnondi water pipeline.

UMB will ask the state Supreme Court to consider its argument that Platte County is legally obligated to repay defaulted bonds issued for a shopping center.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Indian River County, Florida's request for a writ of certiorari, leaving Brightline's bond financing intact.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that affirmed the existence of Indian reservations across the eastern half of the state will mean lost tax revenue, officials said.

Georgia's MEAG Power, Jacksonville, Florida, and its utility, JEA, received two-notch rating boosts from Moody’s after settling their federal lawsuit.

Recent orders from the California Supreme Court in public pension cases indicate litigation on the matter has not ended.

Details of the pending investigation are sketchy but the legislation improved the value of a then-bankrupt FirstEnergy subsidiary's municipal bonds.

Jim Beard, Atlanta's CFO for seven years, was charged by a federal grant jury with fraud, theft of government funds and purchasing illegal machine guns.

Billions of public funds have been spent cleaning up the bay, but two lawsuits say those efforts are endangered because the EPA failed to do its job.

The Oversight Board said that it expects to know by Oct. 25 whether it can propose a new plan of adjustment.

The county has so far prevailed in legal arguments that it is not responsible for making up revenue shortfalls on shopping center bonds.

Laura Taylor Swain said she will decide some of the bond insurers' arguments when she resolves continuing adversary proceedings.

The public-private partnership Alabama is using to build three new prisons is estimated to cost nearly $2.64 billion over 30 years, up from $900 million.

Briefs from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the passenger railroad argue that private activity bonds for the Florida project were allocated correctly.

A Missouri appellate court agreed with a lower court that the county's pledge in financing agreements isn't a legally enforceable promise to make up debt service shortfalls