Midwest

CHICAGO - Ohio will begin a retail order period Monday with institutional pricing scheduled for Tuesday for at least $416.7 million of general obligation refunding bonds.

CHICAGO - Moody's Investors Service this week said it views positively recent court rulings in Colorado and Minnesota dismissing litigation that challenged legislative cuts to retirees' pension cost-of-living increases, and expects the rulings will spur other states to act.

CHICAGO - In a nice surprise, Indiana ended fiscal 2011 with $1.18 billion in its reserves, around $1 billion more than expected.

CHICAGO - The Lombard, Ill., Public Facilities Corp. drew $1.5 million from reserves to complete July 1 debt service payments on a portion of its $187 million of bonds issued to help finance a hotel and conference center that is struggling to remain solvent.

CHICAGO - Indiana University, a triple-A rated credit, will hit the market Thursday with $96 million of student-fee revenue bonds to finance construction of a neuroscience building.

CHICAGO - Fears expressed by some municipal market participants that cuts in state aid will spawn a wave of local government defaults are overblown, according to a new report by Nuveen Asset Management that examines 12 Cleveland-area issuers.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet on Monday filed a motion in federal court to intervene in a lawsuit that the agency believes could delay the long-planned Ohio River Bridges Project.

CHICAGO - The new administration in Cook County, Ill., has picked its first bond team, relying almost exclusively on locally based and minority-owned firms.

CHICAGO - Keeping Midwestern municipal market professionals busy this summer, Chicago and Illinois have each launched a competitive selection process to complete updated pools of qualified firms to work on future negotiated bond sales.

Cincinnati residents may vote on a new ticket tax this fall to help cover operating costs at two of the city's stadiums.