Local Government

A new federal program designed to ease credit by purchasing short-term business debt probably won't be available to California and other beleaguered state and local governments, Treasurer Bill Lockyer said Wednesday.

Boulder County, Colo., officials acted illegally when they turned down a local church's request to double its size, but their decision was not motivated by religious bias, a federal jury decided this week. Rocky Mountain Christian Church sued the county in 2006 after being denied a permit to expand. Church officials said that county commissioners had violated a federal law protecting religious institutions from discrimination by local governments.

The worldwide credit market freeze may be claiming a new set of victims: states, cities and other government entities that issued variable-rate bonds and are now facing interest-rate shocks akin to those that hammered homeowners with adjustable-rate loans. The government agencies at risk issued a hybrid municipal bond known as a variable-rate demand note. The payouts on many of these issues have been driven sky-high by the credit crisis.

At 35, he is younger than many sheiks. And his Sunni Arab tribe is not one of the largest in Al Anbar province. But Sheik Sattar Bazeaa Fatikhan projects the aura of power and seriousness that comes to a man who has taken a stand. After Sunni insurgents killed his father and four of his brothers last year, Fatikhan declared war against the insurgency. He convened a summit of about a dozen prominent sheiks.

Local governments across the country went to court Tuesday to challenge federal rules intended to spur competition in the cable television industry. Lawyers for organizations representing cities and counties asked the courts to invalidate rules the Federal Communications Commission approved in December to smooth the way for new competitors that want to offer cable television service.

City leaders from around the world declared at an environmental summit that they could no longer wait for national governments to reverse global warming and instead must find solutions on their own. Mayors and leaders from more than 30 major cities are participating in the conference, hosted by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and former President Clinton, to exchange ideas. "We cannot sit around and watch our environment deteriorate and put this world in jeopardy," Bloomberg said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger received a standing ovation Saturday at a national meeting of mayors in Century City when he encouraged local governments to take the lead in combating climate change. "I was so happy and so delighted when I found out that you've made climate change No. 1 on your 10-point plan to strengthen the nation," he told the crowd in the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza ballroom.

The state of California hasn't built a big reservoir in 34 years. The politicians can't agree where or whether to build one. So Senate Democrats this week proposed a sharp shift in state strategy: Punt to local communities. If some region feels pressed by population growth or agriculture demands and wants a new reservoir, let it finance and put up the multibillion-dollar structure itself. The state could help out, but not be primarily responsible.

In a decision that could set a precedent for local governments across the United States, trash haulers, school and city bus lines and other publicly funded fleets in Southern California can be required to buy low-polluting vehicles fueled by natural gas or other alternative fuels, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. But private and federal fleets such as Federal Express and the U.S.

SACRAMENTO -- When the California Legislature diverted $1.3 billion from local transportation projects recently to pay for state programs, it was despite a frantic counteroffensive by one of the costliest lobbying corps in the capital. The budget dust-up was only the latest for an army of hired guns fielded by more than 150 local governments throughout California, which spend tens of millions of dollars each year pressing state officials to do their bidding.