Category Archives: Muni bonds

California to reform school bond practices

By Joel Thurtell California legislators are poised to enact a law meant to reform the way the state’s school districts borrow through Capital Appreciation Bonds. Cabscam California was reported first on joelontheroad, which made the 1000-plus percent interest as proportion … Continue reading

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We need a federal ban on CABs

By Joel Thurtell According to California Treasurer Bill Lockyer, those school board members at San Diego’s Poway Unified School District who authorized bonds with a 10-to-1 ratio of debt to principal ought to be recalled. “Stupid,” was Lockyer’s description of … Continue reading

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‘Michigan blogger’ to talk CABs to California

By Joel Thurtell At 2:15 PM on Friday, May 10, I’ll be in Sacramento telling members of the California League of Bond Oversight Committees how I learned about Capital Appreciation Bonds in Michigan 21 years ago. I’ll talk about how … Continue reading

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My first CAB stories

Twenty years ago today, on April 5, 1993, the Detroit Free Press published my investigation into a financial abuse known as Capital Appreication Bonds.  A year later, the Michigan Education Association awarded the Free Press and me its School Bell … Continue reading

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‘Michigan blogger’ to speak in Sacramento

Michigan journalist  Joel Thurtell will speak in Sacramento about how he broke last year’s major story about California’s Capital Appreciation Bonds. Thurtell is scheduled to address the annual conference of the California League of Bond Oversight Committees between 2:15-3:15 P.M. on May … Continue reading

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California’s wake-up call from “Michigan blogger”

By Joel Thurtell How does it happen that a retired reporter in Michigan breaks news that could change the way schools are financed in California? On March 27, 2012, I found a comment here on JOTR warning that a financial … Continue reading

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CAB uproar

By Joel Thurtell The furor I sparked in California over capital appreciation bonds is not letting up. The Orange County Register on February 15, 2013 published a very thorough report detailing the very kinds of CAB abuses I reported in … Continue reading

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CABs, me and The NY Times

By Joel Thurtell If you get a mention in The New York Times, be grateful. Even if it’s baloney. Remember what P.T. Barnum said about not caring what the papers said about him as long as they spelled his name … Continue reading

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JOTR makes The Times

By Joel Thurtell About the time somebody hacked joelontheroad on August 17, New York Times business columnist Floyd Norris wrote about Capital Appreciation Bonds in California. Why, he even credited me, in kind of a backhanded way, with being first … Continue reading

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Michigan CABs and the ‘Big Graphic’

MICHIGAN SCHOOLS LOAD THE FUTURE WITH DEBT By Joel Thurtell April 5, 1993 was doomsday for Capital Appreciation Bonds in Michigan. On that day, the Detroit Free Press exposed the horrendously bad deal almost 100 Michigan school districts had dished … Continue reading

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