Midwest

Moody’s Investors Service last week withdrew its Ba3 rating on Methodist Hospital after it failed to provide sufficient financial information.

State aid to Indiana University could fall to below 10% over the next decade if current trends continue, president Michael McRobbie said at his annual state of the university address.

Indianapolis-based law firm Baker & Daniels LLP and Minnesota-based Faegre & Benson LLP completed their merger last week and announced that the combined firm will become known as Faegre Baker Daniels starting next January.

Standard & Poor’s has revised its outlook on Rush University Medical Center Obligated Group’s underlying A-minus rating to positive in recognition of its operating performance and a reduction in construction risks as it nears completion on a new patient tower.

CHICAGO - Warning he would veto the current version of a gambling expansion bill, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Monday handed lawmakers an alternative plan that scales back the number of new gaming sites, imposes state regulatory control over a new Chicago casino, and sweetens fiscal benefits for the state.

CHICAGO - With its coffers bolstered by an income tax increase, Illinois has whittled down its backlog of bills to $3.8 billion from $5.5 billion at this time last year, but Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka warned in her quarterly report that "staggering fiscal challenges remain."

CHICAGO - The Minnesota Vikings-backed proposal to build a $1.1 billion publicly subsidized stadium in Ramsey County relies on an overly ambitious schedule, leaves the county on the hook for potential cost overruns, and could impair its ability to finance other public projects, according to a state-commissioned report.

CHICAGO - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled a $6.3 billion 2012 budget Wednesday that whittles away a $635 million deficit with new revenue from a series of increases in fees, fines and taxes not including property or sales taxes, along with debt refunding savings, management reforms, and spending and job cuts.

CHICAGO - The U.S. Department of Transportation revoked a $1.5 million grant to Ohio after a group of Democratic congressmen from the state said Gov. John Kasich was wrongly using the money to hire a firm to advise the state on privatizing the Ohio Turnpike.

CHICAGO - The Illinois secretary of state has temporarily suspended former Grigsby & Associates Inc. public finance banker Alvin J. Boutte Jr.'s license, accusing him of providing misleading advice to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission in its $12.8 million investment in a failed Chicago bank.