Nora Colomer

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is requesting authority from the city council to buy, among other things, junk rated Chicago Public Schools debt.

Locke Lord LLP is pushing into Ohio with the opening of an office in Cincinnati as part of an expansion of its public finance practice in the Midwest.

Wayne County, Mich. took a big leap toward leaving junk territory, winning a four notch upgrade from Fitch Ratings 10 months after entering into a state consent agreement to turn around its finances.

Detroit’s proposed refunding of $660 million of general obligation debt now moves to the city’s fiscal oversight commission for review after winning City Council approval.

Flint, Michigan won’t walk away from its participation in the $285-million bond financed pipeline the Karegnondi Water Authority is building to deliver water to the city, a decision aided by state help and other concessions, Mayor Karen Weaver said Tuesday.

Ohio-based Mercy Health’s ailing collections process and the winding down of its affiliated insurance company – both of which have cut into operating profits -- drove Fitch Ratings to revise the system’s outlook to negative

Allen Park, Michigan is readying a conversion of $16.7 million of debt from a short-term to a long-term structure in a move designed to help it climb back toward investment-grade territory after a disastrous venture into a movie studio.

South Dakota won a second triple-A rating as Fitch Ratings upgraded the state to AAA citing ample reserve balances and history of maintaining budgetary balance.

Detroit plans to refund more than $600 million of general obligation bonds for savings in a deal that would mark its first GO sale since exiting its historic Chapter 9 in late 2014.

The University of Michigan will sell $300 million of high grade commercial paper next week to fund ongoing capital projects and refund debt.