Yvette was a senior reporter, covering the Midwest. She earned a bachelors in journalism from Columbia College Chicago, began her reporting career at the storied City News Bureau of Chicago, and joined the Bond Buyer in 1997 leading Midwest coverage from her hometown Chicago.
- Illinois
CHICAGO - Illinois lawmakers return Tuesday for their annual veto session facing a crowded agenda topped by a revamped gambling expansion bill, budget changes, pension reforms and ongoing talks over whether the state should borrow to pay down its bills.
October 24 -
CHICAGO - The Chicago Transit Authority heads to market as soon as Wednesday with $456 million of sales tax revenue bonds and as much as $96 million of new-money and refunding capital grant-backed bonds to fund the purchase of rail cars.
October 21 -
CHICAGO - Chicago hosted potential buyers of its bonds and other financial and municipal market participants Thursday at a first-time city-sponsored conference aimed at bolstering its strained fiscal standing with investors.
October 21 -
CHICAGO - Thomson Reuters will use revised criteria next year to distinguish short-term cash-flow transactions from long-term issues in its municipal league tables amid complaints that a broker-dealer influenced its senior manager rankings by offering issuers lower rates to push out maturities on short-term deals.
October 19 - Illinois
CHICAGO - Illinois will test for a range of investor appetites with its competitive sale of $300 million of sales-tax backed bonds on Tuesday by offering to accept both tax-exempt and taxable bids on the issue.
October 18 - Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Democratic Party announced last week that the recall effort against Republican Gov. Scott Walker will launch on Nov. 15.
October 18 -
Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Hazelden Foundation’s A3 rating ahead of its upcoming $20 million sale of fixed-rate debt to finance various projects that will raise the prominent Minnesota-based treatment center’s debt load by 70%.
October 18 -
Standard & Poor’s has revised its outlook on Rush University Medical Center Obligated Group’s underlying A-minus rating to positive in recognition of its operating performance and a reduction in construction risks as it nears completion on a new patient tower.
October 18 -
IllinoisCHICAGO - Warning he would veto the current version of a gambling expansion bill, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Monday handed lawmakers an alternative plan that scales back the number of new gaming sites, imposes state regulatory control over a new Chicago casino, and sweetens fiscal benefits for the state.
October 17 - Illinois
CHICAGO - With its coffers bolstered by an income tax increase, Illinois has whittled down its backlog of bills to $3.8 billion from $5.5 billion at this time last year, but Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka warned in her quarterly report that "staggering fiscal challenges remain."
October 14 - Minnesota
CHICAGO - The Minnesota Vikings-backed proposal to build a $1.1 billion publicly subsidized stadium in Ramsey County relies on an overly ambitious schedule, leaves the county on the hook for potential cost overruns, and could impair its ability to finance other public projects, according to a state-commissioned report.
October 13 - Illinois
CHICAGO - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled a $6.3 billion 2012 budget Wednesday that whittles away a $635 million deficit with new revenue from a series of increases in fees, fines and taxes not including property or sales taxes, along with debt refunding savings, management reforms, and spending and job cuts.
October 12 -
CHICAGO - The Illinois secretary of state has temporarily suspended former Grigsby & Associates Inc. public finance banker Alvin J. Boutte Jr.'s license, accusing him of providing misleading advice to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission in its $12.8 million investment in a failed Chicago bank.
October 11 -
CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority board Tuesday advanced borrowing plans for several retirement communities and authorized up to $480 million in bonds for the University of Chicago to refund debt and fund projects, including a new research center for its molecular engineering program and astronomy and astrophysics work.
October 11 -
The Kansas City Council last week asked a Jackson County Circuit Court judge to support its bid to block Clay Chastain’s $2.5 billion light-rail ballot initiative.
October 11 - Minnesota
Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Becker Independent School District 726’s general obligation credit by two notches due to its declining fiscal position. The rating was cut to A2 from Aa3 on $23 million of debt.
October 11 -
The Chicago Transit Authority Monday plans to cut 200 management positions to generate $22 million in annual savings as it tries to chip away at a $277 million shortfall in its next budget.
October 11 - Illinois
CHICAGO - Two Bank of America Merrill Lynch bankers based in Chicago, Dan Dean and Ivan Samstein, were among seven public finance banking professionals cut by the firm last month, sources said.
October 7 -
CHICAGO - Warning that Illinois faces a financial meltdown over its rising pension obligations, a prominent Chicago business group is intensifying its push for pension reform with an advertising campaign aimed at pressuring lawmakers to act during their fall veto session later this month.
October 6 -
CHICAGO - The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved the sale of up $750 million of new-money and refunding debt in the city's first big bond issues proposed by new Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who also submitted an ordinance seeking to rescind the city's head tax.
October 5
