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A federal judge told San Bernardino, Calif., officials to negotiate with an insurer to gain access to money that would have gone to families who have filed lawsuits claiming police brutality, an issue that’s again delayed the exit of the city of 200,000 from bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury said yesterday that another bankruptcy judge will mediate a dispute between city leaders and insurance administrators over coverage for major lawsuits, including the police litigation. She set a Dec. 6 hearing to determine whether the city can leave bankruptcy protection after more than four years. The city had filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 1, 2012, saying that it suffered from double-digit unemployment and lower tax revenue from fallen property values. City lawyers have proposed a 76-page plan that would pay 1 percent of $209.3 million owed to retirees, families who have won police brutality lawsuits and other unsecured debts. Under that plan, which Judge Jury must approve, a European bank owed $51 million in bond debt would be paid 40 percent of its claim over 30 years, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Riverside.

SunEdison Inc. doused indications that the bankrupt renewable energy developer and TerraForm Power Inc. are coming closer to settling disputes stemming from their tumultuous legal and financial relationship, the Wall Street Journal reported today. SunEdison said in a statement yesterday that a presentation made to TerraForm Power investors last week was lacking in key details about cards SunEdison says that it still holds in the ongoing talks. SunEdison cautioned that negotiations are in early stages and that it is still reviewing critical information, including a settlement proposal TerraForm Power has already circulated to major players in SunEdison’s bankruptcy. TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global Inc., the so-called “yieldcos,” are publicly traded offshoots of SunEdison that were created to help finance big energy projects. The yieldcos bought SunEdison’s renewable energy projects, ensuring a steady stream of cash to SunEdison investors, but have since taken center stage in SunEdison’s bankruptcy.

Gage County, Neb., has hired a law firm that offers bankruptcy services as the county struggles to deal with a $28.1 million judgment awarded to six people who were wrongfully convicted of murder, the Associated Press reported on Friday. County officials signed contracts Wednesday with Lincoln-based Woods & Aitken and two other law firms providing legal services. Bankruptcy has been among the scenarios county leaders have been forced to consider as they appeal the judgment won in July by the so-called Beatrice Six inmates, who spent a combined 77 years in prison in the 1985 death of 68-year-old Helen Wilson before DNA testing cleared them in 2008. The county’s current and former insurers have denied coverage, and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said last week that the state couldn’t lend the county money because the damages were awarded in a federal lawsuit. The county has appealed the judgment, arguing that there wasn’t enough evidence to find against the county and law enforcement officials and saying the award was too high. A federal judge rejected the appeal in September. The county has since appealed to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.