Midwest

Moody’s Investors Service upgraded Heartland Regional Medical Center’s underlying rating by one notch to A1, citing strong operating profitability.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded Lincoln Park School District’s underlying rating to BBB-plus from A and revised its outlook to negative from stable.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed $48.2 billion fiscal 2013 budget, unveiled last week, is a credit positive for local governments and school districts, Moody’s Investors Service said last week.

Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s housing bond program to Aa3 from A1 in recognition of its strong financial position reflected in an asset-to-debt ratio of 149%.

Fitch Ratings recently upgraded the debt of Illinois’ Regional Transportation Authority to AA as part of its review of tax-supported debt enterprises with an increased focus on operating risk and other factors.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn last week announced the award of $623 million in state funds for school district projects.

CHICAGO — Strapped for traditional funding to renovate one of its aging light-rail lines, the Chicago Transit Authority has hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. and two other firms as advisors to explore alternative financing options, including a public-private partnership.

As Michigan officials near their deadline for deciding the future of Detroit, a new report suggests that one of the more dramatic options on the table — a Chapter 9 bankruptcy — doesn't offer a panacea to the city's deep-seated financial problems.

Wisconsin-based Michael Best & Friedrich LLP has hired public finance attorney Gregory Tears for its Milwaukee office as part of the firm's ongoing effort to rebuild its bond counsel and underwriters' counsel business.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $346.6 million of general obligation refunding bonds unlimited tax series and $50.79 million of GO refunding bonds limited tax series issued by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago in May 2006.