Midwest

Just weeks after announcing he would step down as emergency manager of Detroit Public Schools, Roy Roberts said last week he would stay for six more months.

The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Board last week signed off on two planned hospital mergers in the Chicago area.

Missouri lawmakers adjourned after passing of a $25 billion fiscal 2014 operating budget and a $700 million to $800 million income tax cut package but taking no action on two major bond packages.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said he is pulling state support for a $1.8 billion fertilizer plant amid political concerns, but the plant's owners said they still hope to build the facility.

Chicago began notifying its retirees this week that most will lose their healthcare subsidies over the next few years as Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration seeks to shed a rising cost.

Minnesota would tap a chunk of new revenue expected from a proposed cigarette tax increase and corporate tax changes if gambling revenues needed to repay state borrowing for a new Vikings stadium fall short.

Chicago convention managers and Mayor Rahm Emanuel advanced plans Thursday for a new arena and makeover of the city's top tourist attraction as part of a $1 billion package of new and previously proposed tourism-and-entertainment projects.

Detroit's plan to restructure its debt "puts default squarely on the table" and signals bankruptcy is a real option, Moody's Investors Service says in a comment.

Michigan's recovery from its "lost decade" is expected to continue through 2017, economists and fiscal officials said, projecting nearly $700 million in largely one-time new revenues for the 2014 budget.

More than two dozen local governments in Minnesota have seen their bond ratings cut over the last 16 months as they struggle with diminished property tax bases, limited revenue flexibility, and other fiscal strains.