Midwest

Fitch Ratings Wednesday downgraded $41 million of highway improvement bonds issued by Ohio’s Butler County Transportation Improvement district amid declining debt service coverage levels.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes Wednesday heard arguments from a bond insurer trying to halt Detroit's only pre-filing settlement, which would terminate interest-rate swaps hedging the city's pension certificates.

Detroit Public Schools sold $92 million of one-year notes Tuesday with a 4.37% interest rate, a steep penalty compared to most municipal short-term debt but less than the district paid in recent years.

Of the 140 creditors challenging Detroit’s eligibility for bankruptcy, not one was a bondholder or bond insurer, who learned “an object lesson from Stockton,” according to bond attorneys.

Presence Health in Illinois will privately place up to $215 million of bonds in a deal that restructures outstanding debt of the two Chicago area systems that joined in 2011 to form the new system.

After five years of state control, the Pontiac has finally resolved its financial emergency, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced Monday.

Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn last week formed an independent task force to review and recommend management and oversight reforms for the Chicago region's public transit system that could affect the future of the Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois.

The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority last week hired Dorsey & Whitney and FTI Consulting to conduct a financial review of Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf and his real estate business after a New Jersey judge found a Wilf partnership guilty of fraud in a longstanding civil case.

Michigan lawmakers are taking a fresh look at a long-stalled plan to raise $1.2 billion in new money for the state's transportation infrastructure.

Indianapolis plans to borrow $135 million to finance a citywide infrastructure campaign through 2016, Mayor Greg Ballard announced last week.