Investments

ARIZONA

The University of Arkansas System plans to issue $41 million of revenue bonds for its Fayetteville and Fort Smith campuses.

Rep. Peter DeFazio wants to build highways with a wholesale tax on oil and repeal the federal gasoline tax.

Two more foundations have pledged $13 million to Detroit's pensions via the Detroit Institute of Arts in a bid to protect the museum's prized art collection as part of a grand bargain worked out by federal court mediators.

Investment research firm Morningstar said it will no longer provide municipal bond credit analysis or commentary.

Bond insurer Syncora Guarantee said in a court filing that Detroit, as well as federal court mediators and even the bankruptcy judge himself have unfairly singled out the insurer as part of an anti-Wall Street public relations campaign.

Detroit officials will meet Thursday with Ambac Assurance Corp. and Blackrock Financial in a court-ordered mediation session to try to reach a settlement after months of failed talks.

ALASKA

COLORADO

CUNY's journalism grad school is launching a five-year effort to improve state and local fiscal reporting, thanks to a major gift from New York civic leader Richard Ravitch.

President Obama signed into law Tuesday a $12.3 billion water infrastructure bill that funds 34 port, inland waterway, and flood control projects.

Senate Budget Committee chairman Patty Murray says closing corporate tax loopholes would pay for federal transportation funding needed to avoid a shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund.

ILLINOIS

CALIFORNIA

Detroit's bankruptcy court judge has delayed the scheduled start date for hearings on the city's confirmation plan by three weeks to Aug. 14.

S&P revised the outlook on its AA and AA/A-1-plus ratings on Delaware County Authority college revenue bonds, issued for Haverford College, to negative.

After a national search Columbia College Chicago has hired Michelle Gates to serve as president for business affairs and chief financial officer.

House GOP leaders push ahead with a plan to fund highway projects for a year with savings realized by limited Saturday mail deliveries.

Detroit's hometown automakers pledged $26 million towards the Detroit Institute of Arts' $100 million share of the so-called "grand bargain" that's a key part of the city's plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

MASSACHUSETTS