Caitlin Devitt

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded to B3 from Ba3 its rating on Ashland University, Ohio, and kept its outlook negative.

A federal appeals court Monday handed the three major rating agencies a victory by upholding a dismissal of a lawsuit brought by five Ohio pension funds that blamed the agencies for major investment losses.

Voters in the Williston Public School District, N.D. next week will consider a $55 million bond measure to build new facilities to accommodate a spike in enrollment due to the area’s massive oil boom.

The ability to fast-track stalled projects as well as create jobs is making the design-build-finance model attractive to states, panelists said at The Bond Buyer's annual transportation and P3 conference.

Panelists at the Bond Buyer's annual transportation and P3 conference said the newly expanded TIFIA program, combined with private activity bonds and yield-hungry investors are powerful tools for governments embarking on public-private transportation projects.

Moody's Investors Service for the third time this year downgraded Detroit Wednesday, warning that a razor-thin cash cushion, political instability, and the recent overturn of the state's emergency management are pushing the city closer to bankruptcy or default.

Michigan senators Tuesday approved a bill that is part of a larger legislative package to create a bond-issuing regional transit system for the Detroit metro area.

The Ohio Department of Transportation last week issued a request for qualifications from firms interested in partnering on the state’s first public-private partnership project, a $332 million bridge in downtown Cleveland.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder last week said the state has still not made a final decision about whether to create its own health insurance exchange or let the federal government run one as part of the new federal health care law.

Indiana taxpayers will get a $111 credit on their income-tax returns next year thanks to a new law that requires a taxpayer refund if the state’s surplus totals more than 10% of the budget.

After cancelling a special session Monday, the Detroit City Council could meet as early as Tuesday to reconsider last week's 8-1 rejection of a contract that would make Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC the city's special counsel.

A day after the Detroit City Council rejected a key condition of the state's release of $30 million of badly needed bond proceeds, the city's CFO said that unpaid furlough days and other cuts could offset the loss and that "bankruptcy is not an option."

Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday that it is maintaining its negative outlook on Michigan's local school districts, nearly a quarter of which have been downgraded since 2009.

After three hours of angry public comment, Detroit City Council Tuesday rejected a legal contract with public finance firm Miller Canfield that the state said is needed to win release of badly needed bond proceeds from a state-controlled escrow account.

Fitch Ratings last week affirmed its AA-minus on Akron’s limited-tax general obligation bonds and income-tax revenue bonds.

The Michigan Supreme Court may consider a lawsuit that seeks to remove the emergency manager of Detroit Public Schools after voters overturned the state’s emergency management law Nov. 6.

A group pushing for development of a $1.3 billion regional mass-transit system in two central Indiana counties renewed their push last week, urging lawmakers to approve a voter referendum.

Cuyahoga County, Ohio's most populous county and home of Cleveland, next week plans to price $101 million of bonds, the first general obligation sale under the new executive-style government.

Triple-A rated Oakland County wants to take advantage of a new state law and issue GO bonds to refinance roughly $500 million of outstanding certificates of participation it issued in 2007 to cover its retiree health care liability.

The Indiana Finance Authority selected a P3 team led by Walsh Investors for its half of the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges project that is a joint effort between the Hoosier State and Kentucky.