Midwest

Gilmore & Bell PC, one of the top-ranked Midwestern bond counsel firms, has formally landed in Illinois with the opening a downstate office in Edwardsville, the law firm said Monday.

Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle Monday announced she has tapped a Chicago Park District executive to act as the county’s new budget chief.

Midwestern University is making private loans to students in partnership with the Glendale Industrial Development Authority and the Illinois Finance Authority, which are coming to market with a total of $30 million of bonds that will fund additional lending.

A $525 million boost in state public education funding over the next two years is a credit positive for Minnesota’s school districts, Moody’s Investors Service said Friday.

Lombard, Ill.'s village board isn’t budging from its longstanding position not to make up a shortfall in revenues needed for debt service on its $190 million of defaulted hotel and conference center bonds.

Wayne County, Mich. is reportedly asking a local businessman to buy a half-built, bond-financed jail in downtown Detroit as well as a historic building that houses county administrative offices as it scrambles to get a handle on a deteriorating fiscal position.

Michigan officials downplayed the possibility of bankruptcy for Wayne County as the county begins to walk down the same path as its largest city, Detroit.

The Minnesota Vikings and U.S. Bank have struck a 20-year naming rights agreement on the National Football League team’s new publicly subsidized stadium that opens next year.

Illinois’ Democrats and Republicans heaped praise on retiring Auditor General William Holland for his office’s independence analysis.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is moving up by one month release of a 2016 budget that is expected to address how the city intends to tackle a spike in pension contributions.