Caitlin Devitt

Long-time Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson – recovering from an August car accident in which he was seriously injured -- said the triple-A county was starting to rebound from the Great Recession.

The Indiana Motor Speedway would be able to issue up to $100 million of bonds backed by a new pledge of state taxes under a bill set to be debated Thursday.

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded $20 billion of non-profit health care debt last year, a 213% jump from 2011 and the most since the ratings agency starting tracking the number in 1995.

Nebraska lawmakers last week heard hours of testimony – most of it critical – on Gov. Dave Heineman's plan to eliminate the state's income tax and replace it with a broader sales tax base.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Thursday presented a $51 billion all-funds 2014 budget that would raise fuel and registration taxes to support $1.2 billion of new annual infrastructure funding, expand Medicaid and boost education spending.

Ohio transportation officials announced the three firms that will vie for work on a $330 million bridge project in downtown Cleveland that is the state's first public-private partnership.

Gov. John Kasich proposed $1.4 billion in tax cuts and a $3 billion infrastructure program financed in part by a new Ohio Turnpike bond credit as well as a one-time $500 million cash payment into the state's rainy day fund as part of his $130.5 billion 2014-2015 spending plan.

Hospitals will likely continue to come to market to take advantage of low interest rates and strong investor interest despite uncertainty tied to federal deficit talks and implementation of the new federal health care law, Wells Fargo says in a report.

Cincinnati and Duke Energy Corp. have agreed to ask a judge to decide who should pay $15 million to relocate underground utility lines to make way for the planned route of a new streetcar.

A bill introduced last week would ask Michigan voters to raise the state sales tax by 2 percentage points to generate new money for transportation infrastructure funding.

A House committee last week approved a long-stalled bill that would fund a $1.3 billion mass-transit expansion in central Indiana.

Days after the close of a controversial liquor-backed bond deal that generated a $500 million cash payment to the state's coffers, Gov. John Kasich said the money would go into the state's rainy-day fund and trigger an automatic taxpayer refund.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced the city would close 50 parks, whittling the number of open parks down to 57, after the city council rejected a proposal to lease the city's largest park to the state for 30 years.

City officials recently warned that the Detroit suburb of Allen Park, which is already under state control, could run out of money by the end of February, and a new audit raises questions about the city's ability to continue "as a going concern."

A deal that would have allowed the state to lease Detroit's largest and most popular park and issue bonds to fix it up may be dead after city council tabled it and Gov. Rick Snyder withdrew the offer.

JobsOhio sold $1.56 billion of liquor profit-backed bonds Monday and Tuesday despite unresolved litigation that scared some investors away, seeing spreads of up to 137.5 basis points above Treasury rates on the taxable series.

Joan Marron has taken over as executive director and head of Morgan Stanley's health care group after former co-head David Ertel left for another job.

A North Dakota Senate committee voted against a bill that would allow school districts to tap city sales tax to pay debt service on bonds.

Moody's Investors Service Monday downgraded to A2 from A1 its underlying rating on Jackson Public Schools ahead of a planned refunding of $11.2 million of general obligation bonds.

A bill that would expand Indiana's gambling industry is headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee after the Senate Public Policy Committee unanimously approved the measure last week.