News and Information from Bond Buyer

The Detroit City Council Thursday approved the transfer of the city's art collection to a charitable trust, a key piece of the so-called grand bargain that holds together the city's bankruptcy exit plan.

The Bond Buyer's muni bond indexes mostly weakened in the week ending June 5.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a $51 billion transportation spending measure for fiscal 2015, as a subcommittee chair warned about the pending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund.

The Regional Transportation District of Colorado priced $429.6 million of certificates of participation Thursday with attractive yields, as the market absorbed many of the week’s biggest deals.

The total amount of outstanding municipal securities and loans in the market dropped .28% to $3.66 trillion in the first quarter this year from the fourth quarter of last year, as bank holdings rose 1.43% and money market fund holdings plummeted 3.86%.

Fitch revised the outlook to negative on Alabama's Birmingham Airport Authority bonds citing erosion in the enplanement base as debt service obligations begin to increase.

Adrian King Jr. will resign as Pennsylvania's first deputy attorney general and rejoin law firm Ballard Spahr as partner on June 16.

S&P revised its outlook to positive from stable for its long-term and underlying A rating on Cranston, R.I., general obligation debt to positive from stable.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Topeka's Shawnee County Unified School District 501 as the district prepared to issue the first $118 million of bonds approved by voters April 8.

Hedge funds and other non-traditional buyers will exit the municipal market place if munis continue to grow more expensive relative to Treasuries, BlackRock said.

Fitch's AA rating of New York City's general obligation bonds reflects the city's effective management, said a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio's budget office.

Three new indictments were handed down in a widening Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority scandal and a fourth person pleaded guilty to violating Florida's sunshine law.

The California State Legislature has five water bond proposals to consider in the next couple weeks as the June 26 deadline to pass legislation approaches.

The $273.8 million of Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority revenue bonds were awarded to Bank of America Merrill Lynch Thursday. The deal was received with much demand.

The trustee for the bondholder-owned St. Louis convention center hotel complex plans to distribute on June 20 $32 million in funds to holders of $98 million in bonds, most of it coming from the newly-closed sale of the hotel.

The inexorable drive to further underfund Pennsylvania's state-wide pension systems remains alive and well, under the guise of "pension reform."

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has vetoed a bill that imposed limits on public-private partnerships for transportation projects in the state.

Austin Community College District is considering asking voters for $385 million of general obligation bond money for its growing chain of campuses.

Municipal bond funds reported inflows slowed to $192.27 million for the week ending June 5 from $634.48 million the week before, according to Lipper FMI.

Doral Financial Corp. has sued the Puerto Rican government for more than $229 million.