Caitlin Devitt

Four bond-financed health care projects totaling more than $900 million won approval from the Illinois Finance Authority Tuesday, clearing the way for three of the issuers to head to market next month.

Triple-A rated Oakland County Tuesday sold $58 million of wastewater bonds to finance the purchase of Pontiac's sewer system. The troubled Detroit suburb will use the cash to pay off its debt and eliminate a general fund deficit.

The Flint, Mich., City Council last week voted to file a lawsuit to prevent the new emergency financial manager from taking office, saying the city's financial position has significantly improved since the state took it over last December.

Residents in the three-county Detroit area approved a tax increase that will allow the Detroit Institute of Arts to stay open.

A state investigation into the Allen Park, Mich. finances revealed a myriad of financial and political problems, including a bond debt the city can barely pay.

Detroit on Thursday will offer $123 million of state aid-backed bonds that the city's chief financial officer says will help generate enough of a cash cushion to carry the city through the fiscal year.

Ohio officials question the constitutionality of a plan to privatize the state's lucrative liquor system in an effort to advance a $1.5 billion liquor-profit backed bond sale that would finance the deal.

Citizens Energy, the nonprofit utility that bought Indianapolis' water and sewer systems last year, will come to market Thursday with the first of what is expected to be regular sewer bond borrowings to finance a $1.7 billion, 13-year environmental compliance capital plan.

A repeal of Michigan's controversial emergency management law would likely further challenge already fiscally troubled municipalities, Fitch Ratings said last week.

Outgoing Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels last week asked the state's three gubernatorial candidates for their input on steps to implementing the new federal health care law.

Indiana last week released its final request for proposals for the East End Crossing of the massive $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges Project.

U.S. Steel, the nation's largest steel producer, is coming to market Thursday to raise money to finance upgrades to solid-waste facilities. The borrowing comes a week after the U.S. Justice Department sued the steel giant for clean-air violations in three states.

Deron Kintner, who has overseen Indianapolis' borrowing arm since 2010, is leaving to become Mayor Greg Ballard's deputy mayor for economic development.

Michigan Treasurer Andy Dillon said Friday that legislators should consider crafting a new law for troubled municipalities after a state Supreme Court ruling allowed an effort to overturn the existing law on the November ballot.

For the second time this year, the Michigan retirement systems has made the debt-service payment for a struggling film studio. The state offered a unconditional guarantee as a back-up pledge when the project was financed in 2010.

Voters in the tri-county area that surrounds Detroit will face several millage increases - and only a few bond proposals -- in addition to filling political seats on next week's primary ballot.

Cook County won AAA rating from S&P on its sales-tax backed bond deal, a new pledge that allows the county to distance itself from the woes of Illinois and its own general obligation rating.

The Michigan-appointed emergency manager of Highland Park Schools has converted the troubled suburban Detroit district into a charter-operated one, and hired a private firm to run the schools starting in the fall.

An Ann Arbor-based company announced last week it will help develop zoning for Detroit Mayor Dave Bing's plan to shrink the city's urban footprint to reflect its diminished population.

Moody's Investors Service last week affirmed its A1 rating on the Indianapolis Museum of Art and revised the outlook to negative from stable, saying the facility faces several challenges.