I had a straightforward little story in the Sunday paper about how Minnesota communities are starting to issue more municipal bonds. It didn't say much other than that this is the case, and that it's likely a result of economic expansion and communities getting more comfortable with issuing debt.
The national trend for muni bonding is still downward though, as is the trend in much of the Midwest. Here's a chart that shows, through September of each year for each state, how the amount of bonding has moved in the past 10 years:
