Despite months of negotiations between legislators and the governor, a reasonable state budget seems an almost unreachable goal.

After a jarring sell-off and resulting glut, there’s just one word for today’s municipal bond market: precarious.

Some banks in the Capital Region are placing more emphasis on customer service and trust as they battle for quality clients in an ever-changing market.

The University of the Pacific arrived from San Jose in 1924, planting a brick-and-ivy educational institution in the heart of the San Joaquin agricultural community. Since then, it’s grown to become the second-largest private employer in the county. But, school officials say, the university can still do more in the business community.

Bob Deis has been Stockton city manager for less than a year. Since coming on board last June, Deis has faced numerous challenges, most notably finding a solution to the city’s enormous budget shortfall and looming pension obligations. We sat down with him recently to discuss some of those issues and his plans to revitalize Stockton’s business climate.

Economically, 2011 may go down as a year with a split personality. Sacramento is looking at a much different year than most of the country. Small businesses face a more divergent climate than large companies. Even among small businesses, many have more confidence in their own prospects than in the economy as a whole.

It should be the perfect prescription for an ailing housing market, but so far few buyers are taking it.

The headlines tell the story: “Worst recession in 70 years,” “Unemployment hits new high,” “More companies close” or “State going broke.” None of us are sorry to bid farewell to this year or even this decade.

This is the final story in a four-part series on water. This month, we’ll wrap up by examining upcoming issues in 2010. Past installments of this series have explored water issues ranging from storage, conservation and desalination, to impacts of a peripheral canal on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Everyone seems to agree we are in a mess: collapsing state revenues, inadequate infrastructure, schools that don’t educate — you name it. So who is guilty? Here’s a rundown of the usual suspects and one new one.