Richard Williamson

DALLAS — The winning bidder for Denver’s 23-mile rail line from downtown to Denver International Airport says it can bring the project to completion 11 months earlier than expected and $300 million under budget.

DALLAS — A plan to convert the vacant Houston Astrodome into a multipurpose center and hotel could require as much as $900 million of bond debt, according to Harris County officials.

DALLAS — With a growing budget crisis on the horizon, Texas is seeking to lower its finance costs with a $342 million tax-exempt refunding deal next week.

DALLAS — Douglas Benton, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody’s Investors Service in Dallas, is leaving the agency to join Bank of Texas as an analyst in the wealth management division.

DALLAS — With only one bid for the Phoenix Coyotes on the table, the Glendale, Ariz., City Council has 60 days to negotiate a lease with an investor group promising to keep the National Hockey League team in the city’s Jobing.com arena.

DALLAS — Houston and Harris County will be pumping about $1 billion of short- and long-term debt into the market this month as they seek to position themselves for leaner economic times.

DALLAS — Arizona expects to raise $300 million for its general fund today by mortgaging state office buildings, prisons, and other property in its second issue of certificates of participation this year.

DALLAS — Under the latest plan to keep the Chicago Cubs in Arizona, the city of Mesa would raise $84 million to finance a spring training facility without a state bond issue.

DALLAS — Corpus Christi International Airport is in danger of losing its investment-grade rating amid declining enplanements, Standard & Poor’s warned yesterday.

DALLAS — The Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a Denver-based co-op serving a 250,000-square-mile region of the western United States, plans to take advantage of low interest rates with a $500 million issue of taxable debt for projects expected to begin in 2012.

DALLAS — Boasting a top credit rating, Denver anticipates a strong response to next week’s $350 million deal that will include the city’s first Build America Bonds.

DALLAS — The University of Colorado Hospital will use bond financing for a $400 million expansion at the new Anschutz Medical Campus at the site of the former Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Aurora, officials said yesterday.

DALLAS — The Internal Revenue Service is withholding up to $1.2 million of direct-payment subsidies for Build America Bonds issued by Austin last year, said Treasurer Art Alfaro.

DALLAS — Facing the same revenue squeeze choking every Arizona city, Tucson took a hit to its strong credit ratings as it prepares to market $100 million of certificate of participation next month.

Standard & Poor’s has raised the issuer and underlying rating on the Rockwall Independent School District to AA from AA-minus, as it prepares to issue $15.5 million of general obligation bonds.

Bernalillo County is taking advantage of its strong ratings in a $27.3 million refunding of general obligation and gross receipts tax bonds.

The Denver Health and Hospital Authority will use $29 million of health care recovery zone revenue bonds to build a 78,500-square-foot pavilion for adolescent psychology, outpatient operating rooms, a procedure center, and parking.

The Phoenix suburb of Peoria earned a split decision from two rating agencies on a recent $16.7 million refunding bond sale.

HOUSTON — The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico adds a sense of urgency to the quest for clean, renewable energy sources, but economic, technical, and regulatory obstacles exist, experts told The Bond Buyer’s conference on Financing Sustainable Energy and Efficiency yesterday.

DALLAS — Arizona will be spared nearly $1 billion in spending cuts after voters approved a three-year sales tax increase to bolster falling revenue.