A recent lawsuit brought in federal court is challenging the legality of non-public arbitrations conducted by Delaware Court of Chancery judges. The Delaware court system is a model in the corporate world, known for its efficiency and judges who are experienced in handling sophisticated corporate matters. Now, the Delaware court’s practice of holding private arbitrations in front of sitting judges is being questioned. In particular, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that the private arbitrations violate the public’s constitutional right of access to judicial proceedings. The plaintiffs argue that there are no public records that detail the number of arbitrations, the subject of the arbitrations, or whether the court dedicates excessive resources to the private arbitrations.

Solar Plant Offers Something for Business and Environmental Interests

 Avra Valley will be the location of 2 solar plants since the recent approval NRG Solar received from the Pima County Board of Supervisors. NRG has the approval to build a 25-megawatt plant. NRG and Tucson Electric Power signed a 20-year deal for NRG to provide solar-generated electricity to TEP, which will then be resold to TEP customers. A 25-megawatt plant has the ability to supply about 4,000 homes with solar-generated electricity. Currently about 3% of TEP’s electricity is obtained or generated using renewable sources.

Luxury Apartment Prepares to Open

Riverside Crossing will be a new luxury apartment complex at the southeast corner of La Cholla Boulevard and River Road. Riverside Crossing is a $35 million project that includes includes 304 apartments in 14 buildings. Real estate experts believe that there is a good market for apartments and rental properties in the current economic environment. Rent for these luxury apartments is estimated to be $800 to $1,200.

Foreclosure Assistance Program Turns to Short-Sales

Save Our Home AZ, a state agency created to prevent foreclosures, has instead focused its attention on helping people sell their homes for less than they owe. The agency, funded with $268 million from the U.S. Treasury Department, has been unsuccessful in working with lenders to modify loans or reduce principal balances. Since the program began, only 3 homeowners have reduced the principal amount owed on their mortgages, and 11 have settled a second mortgage.

Report Lists Tucson as 2nd-Worse Housing Market

According to Clear Capital’s September Home Data Index Report, Tucson ranks as the 2nd-worst performing housing market, behind only Las Vegas. In the past year, Tucson home prices have decreased by 12.5%, which is the 3rd-worst loss in the country. For 3Q 2011, Tucson home prices decreased by 1.6% while nationwide home prices increased by 3.5%.

Tucson Unemployment Rate Drops, But Fewer Looking

The unemployment rate in Tucson dropped to 8.4% for the month of August. However, the decrease was primarily due to a decrease in the available workforce. In August 2010 the total available workforce was 491,000, while August 2011 showed an available workforce of 484,300. The unemployment rate also dropped statewide, down to 9.3%.

Phoenix Market for Home Buyers than Renters

A comparison of the the median purchase price to the median annual rent shows that the Phoenix market is better for home buyers than retners. Ratios of 15 or less support owning, 16 to 20 can support both owning and renting, and 21 and over support renting. The comparison looked at 25 cities in Maricopa and Pinal counties and found that the ratios in all cities favored owning to renting. The ratios ranged from 5.0 in Florence to 15.8 in Fountain Hills.

1,200 Pima County Homeowners Received Foreclosure Notices in August

1,214 foreclosure notices were issued to residents in Pima County in the month of August. Pima County’s foreclosure rate was higher than the national average for the month of August, with 1 out of every 353 homes in foreclosure compared to 1 out of every 570 nationally. However, the number of foreclosure notices issued in August is down from the 1,602 that were issued in August 2010.

A less serious post to kickoff the long holiday weekend, courtesy of SCOTUS blog.

Every year at the end of the Supreme Court’s term, SCOTUS blog publishes a “stat pack” of virtually every imaginable statistic related to the Supreme Court justices. The statistics range from the helpful (e.g., frequency that certain justices vote together) to the entertaining (e.g., which justice is slowest to write opinions). The stat pack adds a sabermetric twist to the Court, and is surely a favorite of those who are equal parts baseball stat-geek and Supreme Court junkies. This year’s stat pack can be found here.

So what do Justice Ginsburg and Derek Jeter have in common? Like Jeter, Ginsburg is the lead-off hitter in the Court’s lineup, asking the first question in oral arguments 27% of the time. Her 27% rate is just a hair above the Yankee shortstop’s current batting average of .260.

Politico and the Wall Street Journal Law Blog each recently posted articles regarding the overwhelming caseload facing federal judges in Arizona. The renewed focus on illegal immigration has led to a huge upswing in federal criminal cases, and there is a shortage of judges and other staff to handle the docket. The main article in Politico can be found here, and the follow-up article in the WSJ Law Blog can be found here.

Tucson Officials Propose Incentives for New Business

Tucson city officials have proposed several initiatives aimed at attracting new businesses to Tucson, or encouraging expansion of existing businesses. The proposals range from waiving certain permit fees, to diverting construction sales taxes in order to offset impact fees, or to pay for job training programs. A more detailed description of the proposals can be found here.

Apollo Group Reports $64 Million Loss

Apollo Group Inc., the parent company of University of Phoenix, reported a $64 million loss for the three-month period ending February 28. It is the company’s first quarterly loss in 3 years. University of Phoenix has seen new-student enrollment drop 45%, as the for-profit school adjusts to new federal regulations that prevent it from linking admission counselor pay to how many students they enroll.

Arizona Homebuilder to be Purchased by Private Equity Group

Taylor Morrisson, the Scottsdale-based homebuilder with operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Texas and Canada , has announced that it will be purchased by a private equity syndicate led by TPG Capital, Oaktree Capital Management and JH Investments Inc. The sale is scheduled to close in May, with a purchase price of $955 million.

Phoenix Kicked while Already Down

Last month Forbes ranked Phoenix as the 6th “emptiest city,” and the 3rd “most miserable sports city.” Now The Wall Street Journal is piling on, rating Phoenix as the “most miserable” of 20 metropolitan areas based on unemployment rates, gas prices and home values.

Research Firm Shows Improvement in Arizona Banking Sector

Bauer Financial, a leading bank research firm, reported improvement among Arizona financial institutions. Bauer rated 22.5% of Arizona banks as four or five stars, which is an improvement from 2009. However, one or two star rated banks accounted for 45% of all banks as of the end of 2010. Arizona led all states with the highest percentage of one or two star financial institutions.

Brooklyn Pizza 100% Solar Powered

Brooklyn Pizza and next door neighbot Sky Bar have become the first two businesses in Southern Arizona to get 100% of their electrical energy from solar power. The solar panels are installed on the roof and the shared parking lot. Owner Tony Vaccaro estimates the solar installations will save more than $400,000 in utility costs over 25 years.