Illinois

Standard & Poor’s upgraded to AA-minus from A-plus general obligation debt issued by Cook County School District No. 99, which encompasses the Chicago suburb of Cicero.

The Chicago City Council last week gave Mayor Richard Daley approval to sign the International Olympics Committee’s host city contract, which puts the city on the hook financially if the 2016 Summer Games lose money.

A lawsuit filed by a Chicago-area citizens group seeking to void the city’s controversial $1.12 billion 75-year lease of its parking meter system survived its first challenge last week when a Cook County judge found reasonable grounds to allow the complaint to be filed.