Yvette Shields

After it courts buyers at an investor conference set for late next month, Chicago plans to offer up more than $3 billion of new-money and refunding general obligation water revenue and airport debt.

CHICAGO — Illinois has agreed to the Illinois Medical District Commission's request that a $4.5 million capital grant be diverted to cure a debt-service coverage default and ensure bondholders receive full payment later this year on $40 million of state moral obligation-backed bonds.

A U.S. District Court judge in Chicago has dismissed the final count lodged against former Bear Stearns public finance banker P. Nicholas Hurtgen by federal prosecutors in connection with an extortion scheme involving a Chicago-area hospital seeking regulatory approval for a new hospital.

Still recovering from Gov. Pat Quinn's recent call for $2.7 billion in Medicaid cuts, not-for-profit hospitals in Illinois took a second blow when he lifted a six-month moratorium on stripping hospitals of their property tax-exemptions for failing to provide sufficient charity care.

CHICAGO — Illinois enters the market next Tuesday with $500 million of general obligation bonds for capital projects and is planning two additional new-money sales before closing the books on the fiscal year in June.

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the Columbus School District one notch to A1 ahead of its $1.5 million issue that will refund a Wisconsin state trust fund loan.

The owners of the St. Louis Rams last week rejected the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Center’s proposed $124 million plan to upgrade the team’s Edward Jones Dome stadium, which relied on $60 million of public funding.

The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board last week approved Naperville-based Edward Hospital’s $64 million expansion plan.

The head of the nonpartisan Center for Tax and Budget Accountability last week called on lawmakers to end Illinois’ flat income-tax rate and shift to a graduated tax based on income levels.

CHICAGO — Six months after hosting its first investor conference, Chicago is inviting the buy-side community back on April 26 to update market participants on how the city and its sister agencies are dealing with their fiscal challenges.

In what is billed as a first-of-its-kind financing vehicle for municipal infrastructure, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled a new trust program that will tap private investment to help fund more than $1 billion worth of projects.

CHICAGO — Bank of America NA sued the St. Louis-based Jewish Community Center last week, alleging the nonprofit has withheld more than $4 million it owes the bank as a tactic to win more favorable terms on the repayment of $45 million of bonds held by the bank.

Billed as the first-of-its-kind financing vehicle for municipal infrastructure, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled a new trust program on Thursday that will tap private investment to help fund projects.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton unveiled plans for a new $975 million Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis that relies on a team contribution and local and state funds.

CHICAGO — The trustee for $39 million of defaulted appropriation-backed bonds issued for a failed artificial sweetener plant in Moberly, Mo., won't tap dwindling reserves to cover the March 1 debt service payment.

Three months into its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, American Airlines Inc. has begun to show its hand to investors holding $3.2 billion of the carrier's special facilities revenue bonds by making good — at least for now — on some debt-related payments while moving as expected to shed other obligations.

CHICAGO — With its economy on the mend, Minnesota now expects to collect an additional $323 million in its current two-year budget cycle based on its annual February revenue forecast.

A Missouri House panel held a hearing Monday on a series of bills that, if enacted, would affect future borrowing by local governments for economic development projects.

Standard & Poor’s has revised its outlook on Western Illinois University’s A rating to stable from negative as analysts’ concerns over Illinois state aid delays have eased.

Moody’s Investors Service last week downgraded Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare’s rating one notch to Baa2 due to the Illinois hospital operator’s modest operating performance for fiscal 2011 and the first half of fiscal 2012.