Yvette Shields

Minneapolis-based Dougherty & Co. announced this week the hiring of veteran local public finance banker Jim Wenker to bolster its fixed-income banking business and mortgage divisions.

CHICAGO — Chicago-based BMO Capital Markets has hired senior public finance health care banker David Johnson and three of his colleagues from Ziegler Capital Markets for its merged higher education and health care practices, and named a fouth colleague to lead its strategy and analytics efforts.

CHICAGO — In a stark illustration of Illinois’ deteriorating balance sheet, the state ended the first quarter of fiscal 2011 with $5.5 billion in overdue bills and faces a possible structural deficit of at least $15 billion in the next fiscal year if no action is taken, Comptroller Dan Hynes warned in his quarterly report.

Milwaukee County last week sold $31.5 million of new-money revenue bonds for projects at General Mitchell International Airport and $56.3 of refunding airport revenue bonds.

The two losing bidders in Illinois’ competition to privatize the state Lottery have filed protests with the Department of Revenue asking that the state scrap its selection and reopen bidding.

The FutureGen Alliance last week signed a $553 million cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to work with Ameren Energy Resources to develop a pipeline and underground storage facility in Illinois to house emissions from an existing coal plant.

CHICAGO — Milwaukee will competitively sell $225 million of revenue anticipation notes Tuesday on behalf of Milwaukee Public Schools to help it manage its cash flow.

CHICAGO — Public Financial Management Inc. has hired former Chicago budget director and financial advisory professional Bennett Johnson 3d to bolster its presence in the city.

CHICAGO — The ratings of joint power agencies with an ownership interest in the Illinois-based Prairie State coal-fired plant are expected to withstand the burden of incurring an additional $1 billion for cost overruns, but further problems could have a negative impact, Fitch Ratings writes in a report due out today on the project.

CHICAGO — Branson Airport LLC in Missouri has proposed borrowing up to $17 million of unrated tax-exempt revenue bonds to cover final construction costs and bolster reserve funds tapped to help cover interest payments on $113 million of debt issued in 2007 to finance the privately built and operated airport.

CHICAGO — Municipal investors shouldn’t automatically shun an issuer’s debt due to a severe unfunded pension obligation without a more in-depth review that includes an issuer’s ability to address the liability, Nuveen Investments suggests in a new report on state and local pensions for investors.

CHICAGO — The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Illinois will enter the market next week with nearly $1.2 billion of mostly refunding revenue bonds in the first phase of a debt portfolio restructuring intended to provide near-term fiscal relief and long-term financial stability.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded the city of Carver’s general obligation rating one notch to AA-minus, citing its strong reserve levels and good financial management.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners’ earlier this month gave their preliminary approval to a plan to use $90 million in federal recovery zone facility bonds to help support Navistar International Corp.’s expansion plans.

An Illinois appellate court has upheld a DuPage County court ruling allowing Chicago to acquire St. Johannes Cemetery, paving the way for a new runway at O’Hare International Airport as part of an ongoing $8 billion expansion project that is being partly financed with bonds.

CHICAGO — Illinois has picked Public Financial Management Inc. to serve as financial adviser and Citi and Barclays Capital to lead a team of 11 broker-dealers on its sale of up to $1.75 billion of tobacco bonds planned for later this year to provide budgetary relief, sources said.

CHICAGO — Illinois hospitals pump more than $75.1 billion into the state’s economy annually and provide about $4.9 billion in community benefits, including $500 million in charity care, a new report from the Illinois Hospitals Association asserts.

CHICAGO — Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday warned Illinois that its A1 general obligation rating is at risk for a downgrade due to escalating strains from massive pension obligations, reliance on one-times revenues, and an increasing debt load amid a fragile economic recovery.

CHICAGO — A federal bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday approved Senior Care Development LLC’s $40 million bid to purchase two Chicago area bond-financed continuing care retirement communities although the size of a final payout for bondholders remains unclear.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday paved the way for a Chicago Public Schools sale of up to $800 million of new-money and refunding general obligation debt and qualified school construction bonds as soon as next month to help pay for the 2011 capital budget and ease an operating deficit.