Law and legal issues

BRADENTON, Fla. - Calling it a "classic pay-to-play scheme," U.S. attorney Alice Martin yesterday outlined a 101-count indictment against Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Larry Langford, his long-time friend and lobbyist Albert LaPierre, and Montgomery bond dealer William Blount.

DALLAS - Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin said on Monday that a fiscal 2009 appropriations act requiring counties and incorporated towns to deposit a total of almost $30 million into the state's general fund violates the Arizona Constitution.

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators yesterday announced $800 billion of new lending and debt purchasing programs designed to free up the housing, auto, credit card and student loan markets, but said they will not cover tax-exempt securities, drawing concerns from the muni market.

CHICAGO - The Summit County Port Authority in Ohio yesterday sued to recover $4.4 million after a borrower stopped making payments on a bond-funded loan earlier this year because it was unhappy with the project financed with the bond proceeds.

WASHINGTON - Municipal market participants yesterday hailed Sunday's dramatic rescue of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. by federal regulators, and said they hope it will stem lingering concerns about the banking giant's broker-dealer arm, the muni market's top-ranked underwriter.

DALLAS - A hearing on the indictments of Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and other public officials for alleged prisoner abuse and organized crime activities in South Texas erupted into a shouting match after the district attorney and the presiding judge sought to disqualify each other from the case.

DALLAS - Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales are scheduled to be arraigned today in Willacy County on state charges alleging organized criminal activity, but they do not have to appear in person.

New York Insurance Department superintendent Eric Dinallo told members of Congress yesterday that he will "delay indefinitely" the state's effort to regulate part of the credit default swaps market because of the federal government's efforts to regulate them. But he made the remark at a hearing where lawmakers and the agencies seemed far from agreement as to who should primarily regulate the CDS market.

SAN FRANCISCO - Alameda, Calif.'s venture into operating a cable television operation bond financed with tax-exempt debt comes to an end this week - except for ongoing litigation with bondholders angry at taking a substantial haircut, and permanent financial impacts to the city-owned electric utility.

BRADENTON, Fla. - After a year-long hiatus, tax increment financing is again on strong legal footing in Florida now that the state Supreme Court has issued the final word on how the debt must be sold.

BRADENTON, Fla. - In a long-awaited and major victory for proponents of tax increment financing in Florida, the state's high court late yesterday denied a rehearing in the case known as Strand v. Escambia.

The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday delayed voting on proposed rule changes designed to curb rating agency conflicts of interest, pushing back a vote on them until Dec. 3, when it will consider two additional rating agency-related proposals.

DALLAS - Indictments of Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and other public officials represent the latest in a series of unusual episodes in an impoverished South Texas county nicknamed Prisonville.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed a proposal with the Securities and Exchange Commission to require the submission of interest-rate information for auction-rate securities and variable-rate demand obligations to a short-term market transparency system that the board hopes to launch next year.

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Diego City Council yesterday voted not to hire lawyers to explore a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined four firms and one broker a total of $376,500 for municipal securities and other violations in disciplinary actions released yesterday.

SAN FRANCISCO - San Mateo County, Calif., which lost $155 million after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy in September, filed a lawsuit last week targeting the failed firm's executives and auditor.

Three cities appealed on Friday to the Treasury Department for assistance under its $700 billion financial rescue plan authority, while airports continued their push for federal legislative help to make private-activity bonds more accessible for financing projects.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A federal court will hear arguments beginning at 9 a.m. Central Time today over whether Jefferson County, Ala.'s financially troubled sewer system should be placed in receivership.

BRADENTON, Fla. - An Alabama Supreme Court ruling and an amendment to the state's constitution could prevent Jefferson County's bond insurers from getting a receiver appointed to oversee the county's financially ailing sewer system, a Denver attorney believes.