Yvette Shields

Moody's Investor’s Service returned Vadnais Heights, Minn.'s general obligation bonds to low investment grade, now that a resolution is in place on $27 million of bonds that defaulted after the city failed to honor a pledge on a sports complex.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority unveiled a preliminary 2015 budget Wednesday that relies on as much as $800 million of toll-backed borrowing to support $1.6 billion in capital spending.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed erasing $300 million of red ink by raising parking and leasing taxes, expected savings, and cuts in a 2015 budget that delays tackling a $550 million pension reckoning.

Stricken by cancer, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis won't try to unseat Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in next year's mayoral contest.

Investors holding $113 million of bonds issued for the privately owned and operated Branson Airport in Missouri have agreed to a amended forbearance agreement that gives the struggling Ozarks air field more time to pick up operations.

Wisconsin voters will vote next month on whether to amend the state constitution to ban the diversion of transportation fund revenues for other expenses.

Moody's Investors Service has hit the Rock Island County Forest Preserve District in Illinois with a triple-notch downgrade and warning that further action could loom over its fiscal challenges.

The transit agency that provides commuter rail in the Chicago region could soon join the ranks of tax-exempt borrowers under a proposed $2.4 billion, 10-year capital program that relies on about $400 million of financing.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's administration says its plan to build a $1.5 billion privately financed toll road in partnership with Indiana remains on track with the endorsement of a key Chicago area planning committee.

The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago said it plans an initiative to promote a dialogue on the consequences should the Illinois Supreme Court overturn pension reforms adopted last year.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Public Schools plan to expand early childhood education programs through a $17 million Social Impact Bond.

Milwaukee will take competitive bids Wednesday on $125 million of revenue anticipation notes for the city's public school system.

A new quantitative fiscal review of four Chicago charter schools and networks ranks two as financially healthy while the other two face negative trends that could hinder their long term prospects.

Standard & Poor's has bumped Howard Young Health Care Inc. firmly into single A category with a two notch upgrade in recognition of tis strong financials and its parent's relationship with Ascension Health Alliance last year.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed not to raise property, sales, or gasoline taxes to help erase $297 million of red ink in his proposed 2015 budget, set to be unveiled later this month.

The per capita tab to cover local and state unfunded pension liabilities has grown to nearly $20,000 for a Chicago resident based on 2012 results, according to an annual report on Chicago area pension funds from the Civic Federation of Chicago.

Milwaukee' cultural and entertainment venues need at least $445 million over the next two decades for capital improvements and to fund the public’s share of a new Milwaukee Bucks professional basketball arena, according to a task force report.

Using language Mayor Rahm Emanuel is unlikely to replicate in campaign brochures, Chicago's latest bond documents lay out for investors in stark terms the risks posed by its steep credit deterioration and hazards should it slip further.

Residential property tax rates in Chicago have risen by more than 30% over the last decade, with other selected Cook County communities reviewed by the Civic Federation of Chicago experiencing increases of at least 55%.

Chicago officials said the city's O'Hare International Airport is on pace to reclaim the title of the world's busiest airport by flights, a title it ceded a decade ago to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Memorial Airport.