Caitlin Devitt

Gov. John Kasich said he has asked the Legislature to create a commission to formally explore the consolidation of the state’s school districts.

Upscale food chain Whole Foods and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced last week that the company would open a new 20,000-square-foot store in the city in 2013.

State Budget Solutions, a national budget watchdog group, gave Indiana its “Reality Check” award and Gov. Mitch Daniels its “Real Leader” award for the state’s budgeting process and increased fiscal stability.

CHICAGO - Fitch Ratings Friday downgraded a swath of tobacco bonds - stripping some of their investment-grade ratings - as part of its annual sector review amid continued consumption declines by smokers and a dispute between the tobacco companies and states that is diminishing annual payments.

CHICAGO - Cook County, Ill., faces a nearly 16% shortfall in its general fund next year as revenues continue to fall, officials said yesterday as they unveiled preliminary 2012 budget numbers.

CHICAGO - Fitch Ratings this week revised Michigan's outlook to positive from stable, affirming the state's AA-minus rating.

CHICAGO - The Cook County, Ill., Board of Commissioners Wednesday approved a master bond ordinance that clears the way for the new administration's first finance team and its first market ­transaction.

CHICAGO - Moody's Investors Service has assigned a junk-level issuer rating of B1 with a negative outlook to the long-struggling Detroit Public Schools.

CHICAGO - The top-rated city of Columbus, Ohio, will enter the market Wednesday with $289.4 million of bonds, marking the city's annual outing to finance capital projects. Some of the proceeds also will be used for improvements to a site for a new casino.

Voters will get a chance to weigh in on one of Ohio’s most controversial new laws after opponents filed enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot.

Ohio said it expects to lay off nearly 1,000 workers as it prepares to privatize five of its prisons under Gov. John Kasich’s budget-balancing measure.

Standard & Poor’s last week revised its outlook to stable from negative on Ohio in light of the state’s recent economic stabilization and the structural balance achieved in its new two-year budget.

Michigan’s 45-day tax amnesty program generated more than $76 million in revenue for the current 2011 fiscal year, according to the Department of Treasury.

Detroit finance director Tom Lijana announced his resignation and chief financial officer Norman White was demoted Monday as part of a sweeping reorganization of Mayor Dave Bing’s administration. Cheryl Johnson, formerly the treasurer, is the city’s new finance chief.

CHICAGO - Ohio will begin a retail order period Monday with institutional pricing scheduled for Tuesday for at least $416.7 million of general obligation refunding bonds.

CHICAGO - In a nice surprise, Indiana ended fiscal 2011 with $1.18 billion in its reserves, around $1 billion more than expected.

CHICAGO - Indiana University, a triple-A rated credit, will hit the market Thursday with $96 million of student-fee revenue bonds to finance construction of a neuroscience building.

CHICAGO - Fears expressed by some municipal market participants that cuts in state aid will spawn a wave of local government defaults are overblown, according to a new report by Nuveen Asset Management that examines 12 Cleveland-area issuers.

CHICAGO - The new administration in Cook County, Ill., has picked its first bond team, relying almost exclusively on locally based and minority-owned firms.

CHICAGO — The new administration in Cook County, Ill., has picked its first bond team, relying almost exclusively on locally based and minority-owned firms.