Midwest

CHICAGO — Federal officials yesterday announced $410 million in new funding to help support Chicago’s $8 billion runway expansion project at O’Hare International Airport, an award that comes one week ahead of the city’s sale of more than $1.1 billion of new-money and refunding O’Hare debt.

CHICAGO — Henry Ford Health System could spend up to $1 billion in a massive expansion plan that would include a $500 million investment in its flagship Detroit facility, the provider said this week.

CHICAGO — The ­Bloom-Carroll Local School District in Ohio last week completed one of the first negotiated sales of qualified school construction bonds to take advantage of the new direct-subsidy payment option for issuers.

CHICAGO — The Detroit City Council Tuesday voted against Michigan legislation that would dissolve the city’s two main pension fund boards and transfer management of the two funds to a nonprofit group in Lansing.

CHICAGO — The police union in ­Toledo yesterday lost a bid for a temporary restraining order against the city following the approval of a fiscal 2010 budget that amends union contracts to help close a $48 million deficit and avoid a takeover by Ohio.

CHICAGO — The Iowa Legislature adjourned this week after passing a $5.28 billion budget that relied on cuts, reserves, and savings from a reorganization plan to offset shrinking revenue, and included a $45 million increase in the state’s bond-financed Iowa Jobs capital program.

CHICAGO — Moody’s Investors Service placed on negative watch five Wisconsin school districts involved in a risky investment to help fund their other post-employment benefits. The move follows Depfa Bank Plc’s decision last month to demand repayment of notes issued to fund the investment.

CHICAGO — As Illinois prepares to offer investors $1.3 billion of general obligation bonds, the pressure on its credit ratings escalated this week with one agency downgrading the state and two warning that further action looms if lawmakers again turn to one-time measures to balance the budget.

CHICAGO — Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded O’Hare International Airport’s passenger facility charge-backed bonds to A2 from A1 ahead of Chicago’s sale in mid-April of roughly $1.3 billion of new-money and refunding airport-related bonds.

CHICAGO — The Michigan Municipal Bond Authority is expected to enter the market today with $255 million of notes to help cover Detroit Public Schools’ anticipated fiscal 2010 cash shortfall.