Midwest

For buyers, the allure of attractive yields, diversification, and liquidity drowned out the project risks tied to investing in the Iowa Fertilizer Co.'s $1.2 billion of junk-bond paper.

North Dakota lawmakers Friday set a record for remaining in session until the final day as they continued to debate a budget that includes record appropriations for the oil-boom region of the state as well as income and property tax cuts.

Making a major leap toward addressing the state's pension crisis, the Illinois House passed a wide ranging reform package Thursday aimed at slashing the unfunded liabilities and reining in rising annual payments that are straining the state's fiscal foundation.

Six months after announcing a proposed merger, Trinity Health and Catholic Health East said Thursday they've closed the deal, which will create the second-largest health care provider in the country.

After two years of running the troubled Detroit Public Schools, Roy Roberts announced Wednesday morning he will step down from the post in two weeks.

The Illinois Senate took another stab at a major expansion of gambling on Wednesday, approving a bill that supporters say could pump as much as $1.2 billion of one-time money into state coffers and $250 million annually.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence must decide on whether to green light to a $1.2 billion bond-financed fertilizer plant amid allegations that the Pakistan-based owner had ties to explosives used against U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Illinois will take competitive bids next week on $300 million of taxable sales-tax backed bonds, with another $1.6 billion in new-money and refunding debt in the works.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said Tuesday that the Detroit suburb of Ecorse has recovered enough to remove its emergency manager, though a three-member board will continue to cover significant financial operations.

A tax overhaul in Minnesota -- with infrastructure funding for the Mayo Clinic's plan to makeover its home city and a likely income tax increase to erase a deficit and generate more funding for schools -- is headed to a conference committee.