Midwest

Chicago-based Mesirow Financial has hired veteran bond underwriter Stephen "Jay" Murphy to bolster its municipal desk.

Any sale of the art in the Detroit Institute of Arts would make the DIA "persona non grata in the museum world," a museum official and an art finance consultant testified at a trial on the city's bankruptcy exit plan.

A projected $1.8 billion gap in Wisconsin's next two-year budget has Gov. Scott Walker on the defensive as he seeks re-election. Polls show whim in a tight contest with Democratic challenger Mary Burke.

Indiana officials are watching closely as the private firm that operates the Indiana Toll Road under a historic $3.8 billion 75-year agreement reportedly teeters on the edge of bankruptcy and considers a sale of the lease.

Standard & Poor's dropped Morrison, Ill.'s limited-tax GO debt certificates three notches to the lowest investment grade level of BBB-minus and its issuer credit rating to BBB due to its ongoing fiscal challenges.

The Michigan Strategic Fund approved the issuance of $450 million of 30-year bonds to finance a new hockey stadium near downtown Detroit, a transaction that will feature a mix of tax-exempt and taxable debt, a mandatory tender and interest-rate swaps.

Fitch Ratings lowered Southeast Missouri Hospital Association’s ratings two levels to BBB-minus over its operating losses.

The trustee for $6 million of unrated bonds issued for Iowa Wesleyan College will ask a judge to allow it to enter a forbearance agreement with the school ahead of an expected technical default on debt service coverage ratios.

The two counterparty banks on Detroit's interest-rate swaps no longer need to drop their claims against Syncora Guarantee Inc. after Syncora agreed to modify its settlement with the city.

The Ohio State University, one of the largest schools in the country, is pondering the issuance of $150 million of century bonds, which would mark its second 100-year debt sale to date.