Yvette Shields

Illinois will take competitive bids Thursday on $50 million of general obligation bonds in its first sale of the new fiscal year that comes after the state's latest downgrade due to pressing fiscal challenges led by legislative gridlock on pension reforms.

Chicago Public Schools' teachers went on strike for the first time in 25 years Monday with market participants closely watching to assess the fiscal impact of an eventual resolution on the cash-strapped district while also gauging the national ramifications for governments facing labor strife and the November elections.

The Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois has hired former Chicago revenue director Bea Reyna-Hickey as its CFO, filling the position left vacant by Grace Galluci's departure to run the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency.

St. Louis-based Ascension Health Alliance is advancing plans to acquire Oklahoma-based Marian Health System, the parent of three regional not-for-profit healthcare organizations in the mid and central states.

Iowa has formally landed Egyptian-based Orascom Construction Industries' proposed $1.4 billion nitrogen fertilizer plant which has filed an initial application to tap up to $1.2 billion of Midwestern Disaster Bond financing.

Top-rated Missouri will take competitive bids Tuesday on its long-planned $164 million general obligation refunding that will achieve double-digit savings and provide some budgetary relief.

Chicago enters the market with $270 million of second lien wastewater revenue bonds Thursday in a deal to raise funds for the city's ramped up efforts to upgrade its aging sewer systems.

The merger of HealthPartners Inc. with Park Nicollet Health Services won't have an immediate impact on the ratings of either system, Standard & Poor's said in a report.

Standard & Poor’s lowered its rating on Brentwood School District, Mo., two notches to A-plus. The outlook is stable. The district has no near-term borrowing plans.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded to A1 from Aa3 its rating on the Kendall County Forest Preserve District's general obligation debt based on narrow general-fund reserves and use of one-time revenues to cover operating deficits.

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust board last week approved bylaws that open up its activities and books to the city’s inspector general.

Local communities in eight states with a stake in the controversial mostly bond-financed Prairie State Energy coal project in Illinois could face fiscal stress due to the higher than projected rates they are paying and future financial risks, a new report from an pro-environmental group warns.

Illinois' battered credit took another blow Wednesday as Standard & Poor's lowered the state's general obligation rating one notch to A as the state struggles with legislative gridlock on pension reform and ongoing budget woes.

The fate of Minnesota's proposed tobacco refunding is in the hands of the state's high court which is being asked to decide whether the use of an appropriation pledge constitutes a "public debt" that is subject to state limits on the uses of such debt.

Moody’s Investors Service has revised its outlook on Gundersen Lutheran’s A1 rating to stable from negative in recognition of the hospital system’s strengths and favorable operating performance.

Polk County supervisors approved placing a $50 million bond question on Iowa’s Nov. 6 ballot to finance conservation improvements and recreational projects over the next two decades.

Moody’s Investors Service has stripped the village of Matteson, Ill., of its investment-grade rating as it grapples with a sharp deterioration of its fiscal position.

The Rockford School District will ask voters on the November ballot to approve new borrowing to support a $311 million, 10-year capital program needed to upgrade aging schools.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday vetoed a controversial gambling expansion bill that would have authorized five new casinos and allowed slots at racing tracks.

With its pricing this week of $15 million of extendible rolling tender variable-rate bonds, the Milwaukee comptroller will complete a plan introducing new floating-rate products that don't require liquidity support to the city's debt portfolio.