Orange County still leery of Merrill Lynch.

• Position: News Briefs

Nearly eight years after the largest municipal bankruptcy in history, Orange County is still not comfortable doing business with Merrill Lynch--the firm that sold the county many of the investments that precipitated the financial disaster. In August, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to prevent the county treasurer from using Merrill Lynch without the board's approval. Although the treasurer has not done so, he suggested in a recent memo that he should be allowed to use the firm, arguing that the county has...