Caitlin Devitt

Columbus-based law firm Peck, Shaffer & Williams LLP has hired a new attorney for its Columbus office.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded to BB-plus from BBB its rating on $80 million of facilities revenue bonds issued for Mercy Medical Center, a 337-bed teaching hospital in Canton.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced last week that a former superintendent of the Kansas City school system will be in charge of a new system that will operate the state’s lowest performing schools.

Indiana recently said it will hand control of five academically troubled schools to private school-management firms.

CHICAGO - The Indiana Municipal Power Agency, which supplies power to municipal electric utilities, is expected to enter the market Thursday with $88.5 million of power supply system revenue bonds.

CHICAGO - Chicago-based law firm Pugh, Jones & Johnson PC has brought in attorney Lorraine Tyson to replace veteran bond lawyer Scott Bremer, who left two months ago.

CHICAGO - Chicago-based law firm Chapman and Cutler LLP has hired public finance attorney Robert Drillings to staff the New York office and expand the firm's municipal practice there as well as in New England and the mid-Atlantic region.

CHICAGO — The Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank plans to enter the market next week with $200 million of subordinate, special-tax bonds to refund debt issued 14 years ago to finance Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers pro basketball team.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is looking to hire a consultant to explore the privatization of the Ohio Lottery.

The Michigan Legislature last week approved a bill to require public employees to contribute to their health care benefits.

Michigan Monday launched a preliminary financial review of Flint, making the long-struggling city the first to undergo such a review since the state passed a new, broader emergency management law.

Indianapolis and Citizens Energy Group, a nonprofit utility, announced last week the formal closure of a high-profile deal to sell the city’s water and sewer systems to Citizens.

CHICAGO — After a slow 2010, capital spending by nonprofit health care borrowers will likely remain low through 2015 amid a still-weak economy and the uncertain impact of the new federal health care law, according to Fitch Ratings.

CHICAGO — Raymond James & Associates Inc. has agreed to repurchase $31.2 million of auction-rate securities from Indiana investors affected by the failure of the auction-rate market in 2008, Indiana Secretary of State Charles White announced Wednesday.

CHICAGO — Less than two weeks after its founding, Ohio Women in Public Finance has attracted more than 100 members.

CHICAGO — The emergency manager of Pontiac, Mich., said his plan to raise new money for the cash-strapped Detroit suburb relies on a court-ordered property tax increase.

Moody's Investors Service this week affirmed its Aaa rating on Livingston County's $78.2 million of outstanding general obligation debt.

Gov. Rick Snyder last week asked the Michigan Supreme Court to rule on a lawsuit that targets the state's controversial emergency-management law.

Cook County's real estate valuation fell nearly 11%, or $66 billion, in 2009 from a year earlier, a new analysis says.

CHICAGO — A committee of Indiana legislators will hold the first in a series of hearings today to review the state's infrastructure needs — estimated at $5.4 billion with an $800 million annual shortfall going forward — as proceeds from the long-term lease of the Indiana Toll Road are set to run out by 2015.