Yvette Shields

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.

Minnesota will draw from reserves and bond proceeds to help fund a $167.5 million relief package approved by lawmakers Friday for areas hard hit by June storms and flooding.

Moody's Investors Service on Thursday weighed in on Illinois' failed special session on pension reform, warning that ongoing inaction is a drag on the state's credit due to the strain on its balance sheet.

A federal bankruptcy court judge signed an order authorizing American Airline's assumption of its Tulsa maintenance base sublease, paving the way for the bond trustee on $237 million of debt to soon resume payments.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board on Thursday approved new pools of underwriters as it gears up to enter the market with a roughly $200 million issue to launch a $12 billion, 15-year capital program.

The Chicago Board of Ed adopted a $5.2 billion fiscal 2013 operating budget that drains most of its reserves to help close a $665 million deficit with big pension payment hike looming and teacher demands for bigger raises.