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Stiff competition with the private sector put bonds issued by the Minnesota city of Monticello to build a city-owned broadband network in default.

Wisconsin expects revenue collections in the next biennium beginning in July to grow by $1.5 billion above this biennium’s collections.

Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka last week slammed a legislative proposal to borrow $4 billion to pay down the state’s mammoth bill backlog

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu along with Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel unveiled plans for a next generation battery hub in suburban Chicago.

The toll of Hurricane Sandy on the Eastern Seaboard's transportation infrastructure underscores the need to fund both annual maintenance and "generational" infrastructure projects, said John Porcari of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

With Congress and the Obama administration honed in on resolving the national budget crisis and avoiding the fiscal cliff, it's unlikely the already squeezed transportation sector will avoid a hit, predicted sector specialist Jane Garvy.

Moody's has assigned an issuer credit rating of Baa1 to Presence Health, the new health care system created by the merger late last year of Resurrection Health Care and Provena Health.

The federal bankruptcy court in Chicago has signed off on a suburban Chicago retirement community's reorganization plan that relies on a $90 million bond issue to restructure its $116 million 2006 issue.

Missouri's Mercy Health saw strong retail and institutional interest on its $250 million new-money issue for capital projects -- including the replacement of its Joplin hospital destroyed by a May 2011 tornado.

The Chicago-based national organization Women in Public Finance is accepting nominations for its annual Founders' Awards through Friday.

Fitch Ratings upgraded the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission revenue bonds issued for the controversial coal-fired Prairie State Energy project one notch to A now that the plant is fully operational.

Minneapolis Special School District No. 1 won an upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service in recognition of its strong fiscal performance.

Lake County, Ill., approved $90 million in borrowing to help finance its $119 million capital plan for judicial facilities, which includes construction of a new criminal courts tower.

Only seven state pension systems can lay claim to a strong 90% funded ratio while at least 21 states manage systems that fall below a "fiscally sound" threshold of 70% funded, Morningstar writes.

The Iowa Finance Authority last week approved an up to $1.2 billion allocation of Midwestern Disaster Area Bonds for a new fertilizer plant.

Former Dixon, Ill., Comptroller Rita Crundwell entered a guilty plea last week to federal fraud charges for stealing $53 million in city funds since 1990 to fund a lavish lifestyle that included a quarter horse farming business.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn this week launched an Internet-based grassroots campaign aimed at raising public support for pension reforms.

Assured Guaranty Corp. is asking an Iowa court to name a receiver to oversee the Xenia Rural Water District which has struggled to repay $81 million of outstanding revenue bonds insured by the company.

Illinois ended the last fiscal quarter with a pile of $5.9 billion in overdue bills, $2 billion more than a year ago even though tax collections are on the rise, Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka reported this week.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's $6.5 billion 2013 budget easily won City Council approval as most members praised the plan for holding the line on taxes while holdouts voiced misgivings over police staffing and revenue projections.