Caitlin Devitt

Indianapolis paid an interest rate of 5.25% on its recent issue of qualified Midwestern disaster area bonds issued last month to help finance a new downtown development project on behalf of Eli Lilly & Co.

The long-struggling city of Gary announced plans last week to close its main library by the end of the year. The move comes as the library’s annual budget is expected to drop to $2.5 million from $6.5 million, according to local reports.

CHICAGO — Indiana’s governor would have sole power to create new toll roads and enter into public-private partnerships for highway projects under a bill already passed by the Senate and expected to be considered by a House subcommittee as early as Wednesday.

CHICAGO — Fitch Ratings Friday downgraded $4.6 billion of Detroit water and sewer revenue bonds, citing weak financial performance and future challenges, including looming capital needs and risks associated with derivatives.

CHICAGO — Indiana is considering increasing its pension contribution levels over the next two years to bolster the funded ratios of state-supported pension plans to past high levels that were considered a top credit strength for the triple-A rated state.

CHICAGO — The Detroit suburb of Hamtramck has pressed Michigan officials to allow it to become the state’s first city to file for bankruptcy. Now it has reached a financial agreement with Detroit that, together with a hoped-for $2.5 million state loan, could stabilize its finances for at least the next 10 months.

CHICAGO — Moody’s Investors Service Tuesday downgraded its long-term rating on DePauw University to A3 from A2, warning that the small Indiana liberal arts school suffers from deeply imbalanced operations.

The Cleveland Metropolitan School District could lay off 13% of its workforce and shutter seven schools in an effort to close a $47 million shortfall and stabilize its bottom line.

After days of debate, Nebraska lawmakers last Saturday approved a bill that will divert a slice of the state’s sales tax to finance road projects.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners tapped a new interim chief for the health and hospital system after the unexpected resignation of two-year chief financial officer William Foley last week.

CHICAGO — Whiting, Ind., will remarket $200 million of environmental facility revenue bonds as early as Tuesday on behalf of BP Products North America Inc., which operates its second-largest refinery in the northwest Indiana town.

CHICAGO — Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s proposed two-year spending plan would gut the budget of one of the state’s oldest bond issuers but leave its bond-issuing authority intact.

CHICAGO — Mayor Dave Bing Tuesday said he would challenge newly released U.S. Census results that show Detroit’s population dropped by a quarter in the last decade to 713,000, the lowest head count since 1910.

CHICAGO — Ohio senators Wednesday unanimously passed a $7 billion, two-year transportation budget that allows the state to impose tolls to finance projects and enter into public-private partnerships to build and maintain new infrastructure.

CHICAGO — Dayton, Ohio-based MedAmerica Health Systems will begin taking retail orders Wednesday on $100 million of fixed-rate bonds followed by institutional sales Thursday.

A 12-member group of politicans and business leaders is asking Gov. John Kasich to reconsider his decision to abandon plans for high-speed rail in Ohio.

After a debate over the legal use of general obligation bonds, the Detroit City Council last week unanimously voted to use $750,000 of debt to demolish the former landmark Ford Auditorium.

Three years into his tenure, Detroit Public Schools emergency manager Robert Bobb has won control of its academics thanks to a new Michigan law that gives emergency managers control over more than just a distressed governmental unit’s finances.

Indiana senators are holding the first of a series of budget hearings this week despite the absence of House Democrats, most of whom remain in neighboring Illinois in protest of a series of Republican-backed bills that curtail public unions.

Moody’s Investors Service dropped Maywood, in Cook County west of Chicago, five notches to Baa3 from A1. The action affects $30.7 million of outstanding general obligation unlimited-tax debt.