Southwest

The Houston Independent School District returns to the muni market with $683 million of general obligation bonds that carry nearly perfect ratings.

Good Shepherd Health System faces a rising risk of default on $150 million of debt as the East Texas nonprofit seeks a merger partner, Moody’s Investors Service says.

Texas A&M University System reported higher-than-expected savings on the refunding of its revenue bonds after a Standard & Poor’s upgrade to triple-A.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $73.6 million of excise tax revenue refunding bonds issued by the city and county of Denver in 2009.

Despite two downgrades, Houston reported net present value savings of $49.1 million on a $557 million bond sale that was mostly refunding.

The Oklahoma City suburb of Yukon does not have enough money to pay its bills for the remainder of the fiscal year after $1.3 million was taken from a bond fund for general expenses, officials said.

Sierra Club and other environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit to stop Colorado’s $1.8 billon P3 rebuild of I-70.

Oklahoma City is at risk of losing its triple-A rating after Moody’s Investors Service shifted the outlook to negative.

Amid rising fiscal pressures and two ratings downgrades, Houston is planning a $600 million bond transaction followed by its annual investor conference.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Houston’s general obligation bond rating one notch to Aa3 and retained a negative outlook as the nation’s fourth-largest city struggles amid falling oil prices and high fixed costs.