News and Information from Bond Buyer

ALABAMA

Funeral services for James A. Lebenthal, one of the municipal market's most well-known bond salesman who made tax-exempt bonds a household name with his creative and influential radio and television advertisements, will be Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, 1076 Madison Avenue at 81st St.

Volume is forecast to more than double to nearly $7.9 billion this week as Connecticut makes its way to the helm of the primary market with its $550 million offering of general obligation bonds.

Innovative businessman James A. Lebenthal — whose family was often referred to as the first family of New York City municipal bonds — is widely credited as the first broker to use the media to sell tax-exempt investments to individual investors. He coined such phrases in his ads as "bonds are my babies" and championed the debt of projects like the World Trade Center.

Government

Ohio voters shot down 13 of 17 levy requests by school districts in the recent election, a series of defeats that Moody's Investors Service warns could mean pressure the fiscal positions of several of the districts.

Metra, the transit agency that provides commuter rail linking Chicago suburbs to Chicago, approved a 2015 budget that sets the stage for the agency's debut as a tax-exempt borrower with an inaugural $100 million issue.

Trading in the municipal market remained high this week even though it was shortened by the Veteran's Day holiday.

Florida's Palm Beach County School Board will consider a staff recommendation to file under the SEC's MCDC self-reporting disclosure initiative after learning that underwriters have already reported the district under the program.

The Central Coventry, R.I., Fire District appears headed for bankruptcy court after state officials and the local union remained stalled over cost concessions.

A municipal market research firm is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct a review of its municipal bond disclosure rules to address what it warns are "glaring gaps" in market practices.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it lowered its school issuer credit rating (ICR) to A-plus from AA-minus on East Grand Rapids Public Schools, Mich.

A group of northwest Indiana counties is eyeing a bid for a 75-year lease of the Indiana Toll Road that would be financed with more than $4 billion of tax-exempt revenue bonds.

Moody's Investors Service said it has upgraded to Aa2 from Aa3 the rating on Placer Union High School District, Calif.'s election of 1999 general obligation bonds, Series A.

Franklin Advisors, the holdout creditor in the Stockton bankruptcy, has filed an appeal challenging U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein's confirmation of the city's plan of adjustment.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority approves a $1 billion capital construction program at Reagan National Airport.

The Connecticut Siting Council approved Bridgeport's green energy park, consisting of 9,000 solar panels and a 2.8-megawatt fuel cell atop an old and unused landfill — giving a final regulatory clearance for the clean energy project to begin.

A Chicago parks advocacy group has launched a legal challenge to block Star Wars' creator George Lucas' plans to use a site along with Lake Michigan shoreline for his proposed museum.

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its A1 rating for Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego and revised the hospital's outlook to positive from stable affecting $404 million in outstanding debt.

In a bid to boost its sagging economy, Puerto Rico is contemplating its biggest tax overhaul in decades.