News and Information from Bond Buyer

Memphis, Tenn., recently closed on the sale of $208 million of general obligation bonds after a marketing effort that allowed underwriters to drop yields.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder agreed with a state review team's recent assessment that the Detroit suburb of Lincoln Park is in a state of fiscal emergency.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore. was elected to chair the Joint Committee on Taxation for the remainder of the 113th Congress.

Citi has hired Chicago-based public finance banker Samantha Costanzo away from Jefferies to serve as a co-head of the Midwest region.

Standard & Poor's has launched a web application that allows users to create rating scenarios for local governments based on the agency's actual methodology.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government in Kentucky expects to competitively sell about $61.71 million of bonds on April 22 in order to redeem $60.47 million of Build America Bonds that it issued in 2010, an issuer official said.

Swarms of earthquakes in shale-gas producing regions raised concerns about possible damage to aging infrastructure in the Southwest.

To grow and expand its platform of services, retirement and financial services provider TIAA-CREF has acquired Nuveen Investments in a $6.25 billion transaction expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

The Alaska State Senate passed a $2.1 billion budget bill on Friday, along with other bills authorizing bond issuances.

Detroit's proposed settlement with its unlimited-tax general obligation bondholders is a positive development for the bondholders and insurers that wrap the debt, Moody's Investors Service said in a comment released Monday.

Yields 14-to 30-years out on the curve rose up to one basis point, and they held steady for maturities from one-to 13-years held steady, according to MMD.

The Government Accounting Standards Board on Monday released a concepts statement that will guide it in establishing accounting and reporting standards for state and local governments regarding the measurement of assets and liabilities.

The municipal bond system is "set up not to be fair to the issuers," former Harrisburg receiver David Unkovic said at a conference in Pennsylvania's capital.

Puerto Rico 8%-coupon bond prices continued to slide Monday, pushing yield up by another five basis points from Friday.

Florida's pension plan for public employees faces new reform measures in the Legislature though it is considered well-funded compared with many other states.

Harrisburg, Pa., Councilwoman Eugenia Smith died April 11 at Harrisburg Hospital, where she was rushed after becoming ill at home. She was 53. No official cause of death was immediately announced.