A New York appellate court last week harshly rejected the state's effort to take property from businesses in upper Manhattan and give it to Columbia University for its campus expansion, calling it a "scheme" hatched by the university and the state and... Full Article at New York Post

Today the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Larry Ribstein: "I've been watching the SOX debacle play out for seven years. It will be interesting to see how this ends." More:... Full Article at Overlawyered

In the mail: the new book by Nicole Gelinas (Manhattan Institute) on the financial crisis and its lessons. An informative webpage is here which includes high praise for the book from historians John Steele Gordon and Amity Shlaes, scholar/judge Richard. Full Article at Overlawyered

"This is huge," said Lawrence Schwartz, Gov. David Paterson's point man in the seven months of negotiations. "Governments and taxpayers are going to be jumping for joy." Unions had to sign off on the plan before the Legislature would approve it. Full Article at Belleville News-Democrat

Atlanta Housing Authority executive director Renee Glover has won a national award for her efforts to transform its public housing. Full Article at Atlanta Journal Constitution

While the US Congress has kept a cap on carbon caps, amidst political rancor and the health care issue, China's been busy implementing a range of goals for energy efficiency, renewable energy and cleaner coal mining and burning. Full Article at Treehugger