Midwest

CHICAGO — The last time Nebraska issued bonds to finance highway projects was the summer of 1969. But five years of falling road revenues have prompted lawmakers to give borrowing a fresh look.

CHICAGO — The St. Paul Port Authority and lawyers for a group of 876 Fund bondholders will appear at a court hearing Monday on their dispute over the fate of $51 million of outstanding bonds backed by the struggling economic development fund.

CHICAGO — Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces a second federal trial on corruption charges early next year and will stand as the sole defendant following the prosecution’s announcement Thursday that it would drop charges against his brother, Robert Blagojevich.

CHICAGO — Ohio has launched a new bond program aimed at lowering borrowing costs for two-year colleges across the state.

CHICAGO — Birmingham, Mich.-based law firm Clark Hill PLC has hired veteran attorney Robert Schwartz to expand its public finance practice.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Board of Education late Wednesday adopted an amended $6.5 billion fiscal 2011 budget after the district’s administration scraped plans to fully wipe out reserves to help eliminate a $370 million deficit by instead restructuring some debt.

CHICAGO — The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Illinois has picked Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley as the joint book-running senior managers on its first financing under legislation that allows it to restructure a $2.1 billion debt portfolio.

CHICAGO — The University of Akron in Ohio is pricing $135.7 million of bonds Wednesday that will allow the school to shift its debt into fixed-rate mode and terminate a costly interest-rate swap.

CHICAGO — Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Ames’ top rating ahead of its sale today of $6.7 million of general obligation bonds, saying the Iowa city’s credit strengths outweigh concerns over the near-term fiscal stress posed by recent flooding in the region.

CHICAGO — Top-rated Hennepin County, Minn., will competitively sell $128 million of general obligation debt today in a deal that will tap both the Build America Bond and recovery zone economic development bond programs.