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Vallejo, Calif.

City One of Few to Use Chapter 9

San Francisco Chronicle

By declaring bankruptcy last week, Vallejo has thrust itself into the national spotlight as a test case for thousands of floundering cities desperate to unload their extravagant public employee contracts. "There's a wave of this coming across the U.S.," said Sajan George, an adviser to struggling public entities. "What happens in Vallejo could definitely set a precedent."

The Nation

Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit

New York Times

With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead. Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines, and the parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing.

L.A. Freeways A Little Freer Los Angeles Times

A sampling of residents, traffic reporters and technical data indicates that as gasoline prices have climbed and the economy has faltered, weekday congestion has softened in some areas over the last month.

Passaic, N.J.

Mayor Pleads Guilty to Corruption

Newark Star-Ledger

Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges and faces up to two years in prison. Rivera, among 11 public officials caught in a statewide FBI sting last year, pleaded guilty to one count of extortion after being accused of accepting $5,000 in cash from an insurance brokerage firm in exchange for his help getting contracts.

Orange County, Calif.

Toll Road Agency Hails Wildlife Deal

Los Angeles Times

An agreement to protect wildlife has been announced between the toll road agency and a state agency on the proposed extension of an Orange County toll road, a controversial link that would cut through a popular state park and famed surf spot. Proponents said the agreement helps breathe new life into the extension, which has divided politicians, environmentalists and transportation planners for years.

Posted Friday, May 9

The Washington, D.C., Region

Transit Chief: Delay Upgrades for Urgent Fixes

Washington Post

The general manager of the region's transit system told board members that the agency wants to delay $109 million in planned upgrades and use the money to help pay for $157 million in projects urgently needed by the aging system in the next two years. The projects include repairs to deteriorating station platforms, replacement of worn track fasteners to help prevent fires, and upgrades to key computer systems.

BART Yanks Seats to Pack In More Riders San Francisco Chronicle

BART, the San Francisco regional rail system that is carrying more passengers on a typical weekday than ever before, has been quietly removing seats from trains to make room for even more riders.

Audit: Miami-Dade Was Overbilled $6 Million for Transit Guards Miami Herald

Wackenhut overbilled Miami-Dade County as much as $6 million over three years for phantom security guards at county transit stations, according to a long-awaited audit.

Cook County, Ill.

Judge Orders Private Guards for Juvenile Jail

Chicago Sun-Times

A federal judge ruled that the county's Juvenile Temporary Detention Center is "dangerously understaffed" and must hire private security guards to help make it safe again. The judge rejected complaints from the Teamsters union representing detention center guards that bringing in private guards would be unfair to employees.

Charleston, S.C.

Lack of Water Cited in Deaths of 9 Firefighters

Charleston Post and Courier

Firefighters who battled a furniture-store blaze last June 18 lacked enough water and proper equipment to effectively do their jobs and were undermined by a series of tactical errors that allowed the fire to spiral into an inferno that killed nine men, according to a draft National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health report.

Allegheny County, Pa.

Former Coroner’s Retrial on Hold

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Former Coroner Cyril Wecht will not be retried—at least not yet. And maybe never. A second trial on 41 felony counts that he misused the coroner's office for personal gain has been stayed indefinitely while the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considers a motion to dismiss the case, whose first trial ended with a hung jury.

New York State

A.G.: Hundreds of Lawyers Getting Illegal State Pensions

New York Times

Hundreds of lawyers across the state have been illegally granted state pension benefits by school districts, towns and other governmental entities, according to Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. Many of the cases involve politically connected lawyers who work as independent contractors for regional school districts but are classified by the regional officials as public employees.

Posted Thursday, May 8

Massachusetts

UBS To Return $37 Million to Cities, Turnpike

Boston Globe

A major Wall Street firm agreed to return $37 million to 17 Massachusetts cities and towns and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority after it allegedly misled them into buying investments they thought were as safe as cash. UBS Financial Services reached an agreement with Attorney General Martha Coakley after she found that the brokerage had not fully disclosed the risks of the auction-rate securities.

Denver

Supporters: School Pension Merger Would Save Millions

Denver Post

A merger between the Denver Public Schools' pension system and the state's Public Employees' Retirement Association would remove employment barriers for teachers and save the district millions of dollars, supporters say. Denver is the only school district in the state with its own retirement system. DPS and PERA have unsuccessfully tried twice before to merge their pensions.

Daisetta, Texas

Officials Monitor Huge Sinkhole

Houston Chronicle

The nervous vigil at a huge sinkhole that mysteriously opened near the center of the Liberty County town of Daisetta on Wednesday continued as county officials handed off oversight to the Texas Railroad Commission. The sinkhole, which quickly grew to four football fields in diameter and 200 feet deep, swallowed trees, telephone poles, storage tanks, oil field equipment, a tractor and the cab of an 18-wheeler.

Southern California

Deal Conserves Wilderness, Allows 26,000 Homes

Los Angeles Times

A coalition of environmental groups and a developer have agreed on a landmark plan to conserve 90 percent of the largest chunk of privately owned wilderness remaining in Southern California while allowing the building of three urban centers including more than 26,000 homes on the historic Tejon Ranch about 60 miles north of Los Angeles.

Washington Tree-Farm Purchase to Preserve 1,000 Acres Seattle Times

A Snohomish County, Wash., tree farm containing almost 1,000 acres of forest land will be preserved from development under a $4.15 million purchase agreement approved by the state Board of Natural Resources.

Posted Wednesday, May 7

Vallejo, Calif.

City to Declare Bankruptcy

San Francisco Chronicle

The city council voted to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy after months of last-ditch wrangling failed to rescue Vallejo from financial catastrophe. The city of 117,000 now heads into largely uncharted territory: No California city of its size has ever opted for this route, which will provide a means for the city to reorganize finances shattered by spiraling public employee salaries and the plummeting housing market.

Massachusetts Mayor Seeks 28% Pay Hike for Himself Boston Globe

A day after Newton, Mass., Mayor David Cohen warned that the city might close library branches, reduce the police force and cut services to seniors if voters reject a property tax increase, he released a budget proposal that requests a 28 percent salary increase for himself.

Los Angeles

New Rules Limit ‘Mansionization’

Los Angeles Times

The city council approved new rules to address major byproducts of the gentrification that has swept the city: limiting the size of "mansionization" additions and making it harder for developers to convert low-income housing into luxury lofts. The rules radically limit the size of remodeled homes in the city's flatlands to about 3,000 to 4,000 square feet in most cases.

Detroit

City Water Chief Leaving for Florida

Detroit Free Press

Victor Mercado, the director of Detroit's water department who shepherded the $1 billion system through an overhaul, efforts by the suburbs to seize control and increasing anger over city rate hikes, is resigning his $230,000-a-year post. Mercado said he has an opportunity to head a public water utility in Florida.

Posted Tuesday, May 6

Detroit

Report: Council Can Remove Mayor

Detroit Free Press

Detroit's city council has the authority—and ammunition—to remove Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office, according to a scathing report from the attorney hired by the council to investigate the scandal surrounding the mayor's office. Kilpatrick's general counsel dismissed the report as "no more than a witch hunt" and reiterated Kilpatrick's vow not to resign.

Wake County, N.C.

Court Backs County on Year-Round Schools

Raleigh News & Observer

The state Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Wake County school system in its effort to assign students to year-round schools regardless of whether parents consent. The school system has been trying to cope with enrollment growth by assigning increasing numbers of students to schools that follow a year-round calendar.

The Boston Region

‘Scary’ Gas Prices Bring Transit-Rider Surge

Boston Globe

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ridership surged 6.2 percent in the first three months of 2008 compared with the start of 2007, a spike the general manager attributed to “scary” gas prices that could help set an annual record for trips on subways, trains, and buses. The steep increase in customers put the MBTA ahead of other transit systems, which have seen ridership spikes of 2 to 4 percent.

Harris County, Texas

Sheriff: Send 1,130 Inmates to Louisiana

Houston Chronicle

With the county jail already filled to the brim and an influx of inmates expected this summer, the sheriff's department is asking for permission to send another 1,130 more inmates to Louisiana facilities. Harris County already incarcerates 600 inmates at a private detention center in northeast Louisiana at a cost of $9 million a year.