Karen is a senior reporter covering the Southwest. She has covered the municipal bond market for more than 30 years at The Bond Buyer and Reuters. Prior to that she wrote about futures and options markets for magazines and was an award-winning reporter for a suburban Chicago newspaper chain.
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Trinity Regional Hospital Sachse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after problems left it unable to pay municipal bond debt service or cover operating expenses.
September 6 -
The city, which issued POBs in 2005, is awaiting recommendations from an actuary on how to deal with a $3 billion unfunded liability in its public safety fund.
September 1 -
The state's Council of Bond Oversight will once again consider $500 million of bonds for a controversial $5 billion Oklahoma Turnpike Authority expansion.
August 30 -
The upgrades mark the second in a year for the tollway authority's ratings, which were raised last August by S&P Global Ratings.
August 29 -
The state is capping transfers of fossil fuel-related revenue to its general fund and will invest money that exceeds the cap through a Severance Tax Permanent Fund.
August 28 -
The Attorney General's office found the firm complies with a 2021 state law banning contracts with companies that "discriminate" against the firearm industry.
August 25 -
The Uinta Basin Railway, which aims to transport crude oil, is eying up to $2 billion in private-activity bond authorization.
August 24 -
The rating agency cited the Illinois county's accumulated reserves, as well as required pension contributions for the move.
August 23 -
The eight-state region accounted for $38.5 billion in muni bond sales in the first half of 2023, with the lion's share coming from Texas.
August 21 -
The state treasurer's revisions, which shrank the list to six financial firms from 13, includes Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
August 16 -
The rating agency's release ESG credit indicators for states and territories last year was blasted by GOP officials for being politicized, vague, and confusing.
August 14 -
The bonds are part of an $814 million infrastructure funding package that includes an extension of a 0.95% sales tax also approved by voters.
August 10 -
While acknowledging disputed allegations of mismanagement and infractions on the part of venue owner Legacy Cares, the judge denied a motion by the U.S. trustee in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy to appoint an independent trustee or dismiss the case.
August 10 -
Mercy Hospital plans to sell facilities and other assets to the University of Iowa, which approved $20 million for the acquisition.
August 9 -
"It's very rewarding to look back and say I helped that educational process get done, or I helped this hospital get financed," Hill Feinberg said.
August 9 -
Unlike many in the municipal bond market, Frank Fairman's career has been spent at one firm — Minneapolis-based Piper Sandler — which he joined in 1983 as a nascent investment banker and where he has headed public finance services since 1991.
August 9 -
Extending the tax, which expires at the end of 2025, would raise billions of dollars for transportation projects in the nation's fourth-largest county.
August 7 -
Wells Fargo is the latest investment bank to undergo a Texas Attorney General review of its compliance with a 2021 law.
August 4 -
The turnpike authority will now seek reapproval from the Oklahoma Council of Bond Oversight before it can head to the municipal bond market.
August 2 -
Major bondholder Preston Hollow and the trustee for $86 million of debt sold for Mercy Iowa City in 2011 and 2018 pointed to default events.
August 1
