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MuniNet Medley: 12/13/11 - Bond Buyer’s Deal of Year, Top Winter Cities, San Francisco Minimum Wage, Electricity Costs

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts took honors as The Bond Buyer’s Deal of the Year for its Accelerated Bridge Program.  The awards program considered deals that closed between October 2010 and September 2011.  The Massachusetts Bridge bond issue was recognized for providing “a very creative  solution for a clear public purpose, safe bridges,” according to Gavin Murphy, editor in chief of The Bond Buyer .... 

... Also recently honored: the Top Ten Winter Cities, named by Livability.com, with the help of Patrick Coleman, CEO of the Winter Cities Institute.   Anchorage, Alaska tops the list (what other city could compete with dog sledding, ice fishing,  skating, sledding, and skiing!!), while others in the top ten include Saratoga Springs, New York; St. Cloud, Minnesota; Logan, Utah; and Bangor, Maine.  Brrrrr ....

.... Speaking of “tops," San Francisco will soon become the first city in the U.S. to top a $10 minimum wage.  At $10.24 per hour beginning January 1, San Francisco’s minimum wage will be a full $2 higher than the California minimum wage, and $3 more than the federal minimum wage requirement, according to a Bloomberg Business Week article ...  

... Employees across the country could use a few extra dollars in their paychecks - to cover rising electricity costs alone, according to a USA Today article focusing on the “skyrocketing” costs of household electricity.  While the cost of electricity rose for the fifth consecutive year in the U.S., residents of Hawaii, Connecticut, and New York, respectively, pay the highest cost per kilowatt hour, according to the article...

... The Georgia Department of Transportation and a Tennessee-based contractor will be paying a $1.5 million fine - along with another $1.3 million on clean-up work - the highest environmental penalty imposed against the DOT, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article.  A federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) complaint charges that the DOT and its contractor polluted Georgia stream water with rocks and soil while doing roadwork. The agency will pay the penalty rather than engage in what could be years of legal wrangling.