Midwest

Peel away the layers of negative headlines and patient investors will find in the this week’s $300 million Chicago Board of Education issue low default risks and underlying credit strength, according to Municipal Market Analytics.

Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook to negative from stable on Illinois Wesleyan University’s A-minus rating assigned to debt from a 2006 issue.

Standard & Poor's upgraded Aspirus Inc. Obligated Group by one level to A-plus ahead of its $40 million fixed-rate issue.

House Speaker Michael Madigan is taking aim at Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed $32 billion fiscal 2016 budget with the formation of a special oversight panel that will “closely examine” Rauner’s spending cuts.

In another big headline event for the Chicago Public Schools ahead of its bond sale, the district's chief executive officer is temporarily stepping aside as federal authorities probe a $20.5 million no-bid contract awarded to her former employer.

Detroit Public Schools' CFO William Aldridge's departure comes at a critical time for the struggling district.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns the Chicago’s convention center, has hired planning veteran and mayoral aide Lori Healey as chief executive officer.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed two successor emergency managers to a pair of suburban Detroit school districts under state control.

The Michigan Legislature has passed a bill giving Detroit bondholders a statutory lien and intercept on its income-tax bonds, a measure aimed at easing the city's first public market sale since the end of its high-profile bankruptcy.

The Chicago Public School system is limping back to the bond market next week following reports of a federal probe and bankruptcy talk from the governor.