Yvette Shields

Standard & Poor’s last week ­upgraded by one notch to A-plus its rating on the Plymouth Joint School ­District due to its maintenance of strong reserves.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle last week signed legislation that advances state efforts to capitalize on its share of recovery zone facility bonds authorized in the federal stimulus program.

Standard & Poor’s last week upgraded the rating of West Chicago by two notches to AA-plus based on the city’s strong financial position.

Two rating agencies have revised Provena Health’s outlook to stable from negative ahead of its $126 million debt restructuring that took place on Monday.

CHICAGO — New York-based Rice Financial Products has promoted chief financial officer Cristal Baron to president as the firm seeks to capitalize on its evolution from a derivatives boutique to a full-service broker-dealer by carving out a bigger chunk of book-running business.

CHICAGO — The potential sale of the smaller of two hotels that make up the bondholder-owned St. Louis convention center complex is advancing with the field of possible buyers now narrowed down to two.

CHICAGO — Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes conceded Thursday morning to Gov. Pat Quinn in the Democratic primary to run for the governor’s office in November.

CHICAGO — Wisconsin yesterday priced $131 million of new-money and refunding clean-water revenue bonds, the first in a series of three state deals over the next month, including a restructuring of more than $200 million of general obligation bonds for budget savings this year.

Moody’s Investors Service last week said the Wisconsin Public Power Inc.’s A1 rating would not be affected by its proposal to purchase the electric distribution assets of Menasha’s steam utility plant. The WPPI has $422.7 million of rated debt.

Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser unveiled a proposal this week that calls for borrowing $100 million to finance infrastructure improvements and security measures around the city’s schools.

CHICAGO — Milwaukee today will competitively issue $130 million of general obligation promissory notes and another $16 million of taxable notes and bonds to raise funds for various capital projects and to refund commercial paper.

CHICAGO — The University of Minnesota, one of the first borrowers to use the Build America Bond program last spring, enters the market today with $36 million of fixed-rate, new-money bonds that will again tap the federal stimulus program.

CHICAGO — A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge ruled yesterday that a lawsuit filed by five southeastern Wisconsin school districts against several financial firms over the safety of an investment involving synthetic collateralized debt obligations can proceed.

CHICAGO — Iowa Gov. Chet Culver this week unveiled a $5.32 billion fiscal 2011 budget that keeps the state in the black through the use of $254 million in fiscal reserves, $340 million in savings through a government reorganization and other cost-cutting measures, and $52 million from the elimination or reduction of some tax credits.

CHICAGO — Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle this week outlined a broad agenda for his final year in office, calling on the Legislature to provide property-tax breaks for homeowners and pass measures that promote job growth, hand control of the Milwaukee Public Schools over to the city’s mayor, and establish a Milwaukee-area regional transit agency.

CHICAGO — Menasha, Wis., must turn over public records related to the operations of its now-shuttered steam utility plant to an investor who holds $2 million of the city’s $23 million of defaulted bond anticipation notes issued for the plant, a judge ordered yesterday.

CHICAGO — Fiscally beleaguered Illinois enters the market on Thursday with $1 billion of taxable general obligation Build America Bonds, its first use of the federal stimulus program as the state seeks to raise new-money proceeds for its $31 billion capital program.

Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on the BB-rated St. Louis Charter School to positive from stable due to an improved financial position.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has tapped the head of the Iowa Finance Authority, Bret Mills, to serve as director of the Department of Economic Development.

Standard & Poor’s last week revised the outlook on seven Illinois state universities to negative from stable due to their exposure to the state’s liquidity problems that have resulted in delays in state aid payments.