Maui County is suing Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. in federal court over access to $32 million invested in student-loan auction-rate securities, county officials announced Wednesday.

The county purchased securities from Merrill Lynch with the understanding they were safe, short-term, liquid investments, the officials said.

"The County of Maui was told that the investments could be easily accessed, just like cash," said Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares. "Assurances by Merrill Lynch at the time of the investment turned out to be false, and we are seeking justice for the taxpayers of Maui County."

Merrill Lynch spokesman Bill Halldin defended the company.

"We acted appropriately, made relevant disclosures to the county concerning auction rate securities, and intend to vigorously defend ourselves," he said.

County officials said about $44 million in student-loan auction-rate securities (SLARS) were purchased through Merrill Lynch between Aug. 16, 2007, and Jan. 16, 2008, and today, the county owns $32 million of the securities that are not liquid.

"Maui County seeks to recover its money," said Joachim Cox of Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel LLP, special counsel for the county.

Freedom Communications asked a bankruptcy judge on Tuesday to approve the sale of the East Valley Tribune and several other Phoenix-area publications for about $2 million.

Irvine, Calif.-based Freedom Communications Holdings Inc. put the Tribune up for sale shortly after it filed for bankruptcy protection in September. The company said it planned to close the paper Dec. 31 if no buyer emerged and estimated that shutting it down would cost $1.5 million.

Thirteenth Street Media, a Boulder, Colo.-based company owned by Randy Miller, made an offer for the Tribune in November. Miller expanded his bid in January to include the Daily News-Sun in Sun City, the Ahwatukee Foothills News, Glendale/Peoria Today, Surprise Today, and the Clipper direct-mail coupon magazine.

Because Freedom is under bankruptcy protection, a judge must approve the sale, which is contingent on no better offers being made. The motion filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware said Freedom would accept offers until March 5.

Freedom will continue to publish the papers pending court approval of the sale. Freedom will remain the owner of its other paper in Arizona, The Sun in Yuma.

Smith & Nephew Plc, Europe’s largest maker of shoulder and knee implants, was awarded $4.7 million in a patent-infringement trial against smaller rival Arthrex Inc. over a device to fix a graft to a bone.

Arthrex said in a statement it will appeal the Feb. 12 jury decision and is “confident the verdict will be overturned on appeal.” It said it doesn’t expect the verdict will interrupt sales of its RetroButton ACL graft fixation product. Smith & Nephew said it will seek a court order to halt sales of some devices.

The dispute is over the attachment of the grafts used to replace the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, in the knee that connects the femur bone in the thigh with the tibia bone in the shin. It’s one of the most commonly injured ligaments during athletic activity. The grafts are ligaments taken from other parts of the body, typically the hamstring, patella or Achilles region, said Smith & Nephew spokesman Joe Metzger.

“Smith & Nephew has a long and proud history of providing medical devices that help surgeons to deliver positive patient outcomes,” Mike Frazzette, president of Smith & Nephew Endoscopy, said in a statement. “As a result, we will vigorously protect our intellectual property rights against Arthrex and other companies that infringe our patents.”

Commercial law firm Carson McDowell has promoted four associates to partners of the firm, reflecting the growth of the business.

The firm, which has over 100 people working in its Belfast office, made Emma Cooper a partner in its property practice, Stuart Murphy a partner in construction, Dawn McKnight a partner in corporate and commerical and Leigh Linton a partner in litigation.

Senior partner Alan Reilly said “These promotions reflect the growth which we are still experiencing within the firm.

A grand jury has indicted a Salisbury woman for embezzling more than $140,000 from a local attorney.

The Rowan County grand jury meeting Monday indicted Kimberly "Kim" Osborne on the charge of felony embezzlement.

The indictment charges that she took $142,414 from James T. Oxendine between Jan. 1, 2007, and Jan. 1, 2008.

She was an employee of Oxendine's during that time.

Osborne was at the time married to Terry Osborne, currently manager of the Rowan-Kannapolis ABC system.

Kim Osborne previously worked for the Clerk of Court's office when Terry Osborne was Rowan County Clerk of Superior Court.

Terry Osborne petitioned for a divorce, which was granted in August 2009.

Salisbury Police investigated the case, with assistance from the SBI.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is heading to court to answer revised charges that he schemed to sell or trade President Barack Obama's old Senate seat and swap official favors for campaign money.

Marshals have warned they will not tolerate the kind of swirling crowd at Blagojevich's arraignment Wednesday that swallowed the former governor last time he was in court.

Curiosity about Blagojevich is guaranteed to bring out a heavy media contingent, but defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky says the arraignment is likely to be routine — a simple not guilty plea.

While the indictment against Blagojevich has been revised, the allegations of misconduct on his part are no different that the ones in the old version.