Midwest

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes is set to rule on Detroit's bankruptcy late in the first week of November, likely putting it past the state's gubernatorial election.

The board of Wayne County, Mich. has rejected a plan to move a half-built abandoned jail site in downtown Detroit, making it more likely the county will restart the controversial, bond-financed project.

Standard & Poor's dropped Higginsville, Missouri's 2010 sewerage system revenue bonds down three notches to the lowest investment grade level Wednesday over its weakened fiscal position.

Detroit's convention center is hitting the market Wednesday with $300 million of bonds that marks its first public offering since it was taken over by a regional authority in 2009.

Illinois closed out the first quarter of fiscal 2015 with its bill backlog holding steady at nearly $5 billion, state Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka reported in her office's monthly update.

Wisconsin closed out its last fiscal year with a $517 million undesignated ending balance, the Department of Administration reported Wednesday in the state's annual fiscal report for fiscal 2014.

The Alta Group's Bob Neptune will receive the 2014 Jay Terry Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Governmental Leasing & Finance at its national conference next month.

Moody's Investor’s Service returned Vadnais Heights, Minn.'s general obligation bonds to low investment grade, now that a resolution is in place on $27 million of bonds that defaulted after the city failed to honor a pledge on a sports complex.

Detroit reached a settlement with FGIC, the last major holdout creditor in its bankruptcy case, that gives the bond insurer a mix of cash and prime downtown Detroit land to build a new hotel and condominiums.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan hired former New York City budget director Carol O'Cleireacain as a deputy mayor. She will find new revenue, work on the city's emergence from bankruptcy and on the restructuring of its massive water and sewer department.