Nora Colomer

East Cleveland, Ohio says it is insolvent and bankruptcy is its best option to preserve essential public services in the city of 18,000, which has no bond debt.

Voters in Indiana and Michigan responded favorably to requests for hundreds of millions of dollars in requests for bond borrowing authority.

State legislation to deal with about $500 million in Detroit Public Schools debt is headed to Michigan’s full House after winning approval Wednesday.

Fitzgerald Public School District in Macomb County, Michigan lost its investment grade rating on its limited tax general obligation bonds and remains at risk of its unlimited tax GOs also falling to a speculative grade.

Debate began Tuesday in the Michigan House on a $715 million restructuring of Detroit Public Schools amid mounting growing pressure to act as the district’s fiscal crisis prompted a two-day district-wide “sickout.”

Voters in Indiana and Michigan headed to the polls Tuesday will decide the fate of more than $1 billion in school district borrowing requests.

Williston, North Dakota’s sales tax debt took a six-notch downgrade to junk amid continued oil and price declines.

The Michigan House signed off on a $54 billion fiscal 2017 budget that provides more money to deal with Flint’s water contamination crisis and record spending for kindergarten through 12th grade education.

Ohio-based American Municipal Power Inc. will use a portion of the proceeds from its upcoming sale of $137.5 million in tax-exempt project revenue bonds to finance the purchase of an ownership interest in the Greenup Hydroelectric Facility.

Detroit Public Schools says its prior administration’s mishandling of $30 million in federal funds won’t add to the fiscal burden the state is being asked to cover as part of a sweeping restructuring.

Locke Lord LLP has hired tax specialist Todd Cooper to bolster its 25-member national public finance practice.

An uptick in patient volume and the November acquisition of Allegiance Health helped boost Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System’s credit rating outlook.

A Michigan House committee will take up the next round of discussions on the proposed Detroit Public Schools restructuring.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s criminal probe of the Flint water crisis will include a review of the bond-financed pipeline the Karegnondi Water Authority is building to deliver water to the city.

While the key oil production states of Oklahoma, North Dakota and California have all been hit hard by the drop in crude oil prices, the impact varies at both the state and local government level, Moody’s Investors Service says.

Columbus, Ohio is eyeing a July return to the market to begin borrowing to raise funds for its $866 million fiscal 2017 capital budget.

Michigan’s State Housing Development Authority single family revenue bonds could get a credit boost from new federal funding, Moody’s Investors Service said in a commentary.

Ryan A. Bendzinski, part owner of Michigan based-Bendzinski & Co. Municipal Financial Advisors, died April 11. He was 32.

Ohio-based Kettering Health Network won an upgrade from Standard & Poor’s ahead of its upcoming $90 million sale.

Flint and Genesee County will remain in a state of emergency until Aug. 14 under a four month extension granted by Michigan lawmakers on Wednesday.