Midwest

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder declared fiscal emergencies in a pair of Detroit suburbs, Royal Oak Township and Highland Park, the first step toward a state takeover or declaration of bankruptcy.

Law firm Thompson Coburn LLP is bolstering its public finance team in Chicago with the addition of veteran public finance attorney Thomas Smith.

A broad coalition of Illinois unions accuses the state of pension "theft" in its long anticipated lawsuit that seeks to overturn the state's pension system overhaul before it takes effect in June.

Detroit's emergency manager said Wednesday he has presented the city's creditors with a proposed plan of adjustment, a key benchmark in the historic Chapter 9 case.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, in his state of the state speech, sought to highlight the state's fiscal strides, notably a major pension overhaul, but was quiet about the state's considerable remaining financial challenges.

The Detroit Institute of Arts said it will try to raise $100 million as part of a high-profile public-private effort to raise money to pledge to the city's pensions while safeguarding its prized art collection.

Voters in Cuyahoga County will vote in May on whether to extend a pair of so-called sin taxes to raise badly needed new money for three sports stadiums located in downtown Cleveland.

A plan to fund Detroit's pensions while protecting its art collection received a boost Tuesday when a major foundation pledged $40 million to the effort.

Chicago is prepping two general obligation bond sales that will offer the first test of the market's appetite for the city's GO paper since being slapped with two three-notch downgrades over its pension woes.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette Monday asked a federal appeals court to expedite a decision on whether Detroit can cut its pensions, calling it a question of national importance.