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December 15,
2005
name='1'>House
Might Vote Today on Pension Overhaul Bill
The House will vote
as early
as today on legislation overhauling the nation’s pension laws,
after Republican
leaders determined they had the votes to secure the bill’s
passage by a comfortable
margin, CongressDaily reported today. GOP Leadership had been
uncertain
about floor action on the bill before ending the session for the year,
amid
a flood of last-minute bills and must-pass spending legislation. But
House Education
and the Workforce Chairman Boehner and Ways and Means Chairman Thomas
have pressed
for a vote, and they secured a key union endorsement earlier this week
to draw
Democratic votes. A Boehner spokesman predicted the bill would pass
with bipartisan
support. The bill would tighten the rules governing how companies fund
their
pension plans, requiring plans to be fully funded. The Senate already
has passed
its version of pension legislation.
id='2'>Former
Enron Chairman Urges Witnesses to Step Forward
Former Enron Corp.
Chairman
Kenneth Lay used a public speech on Tuesday to exhort other former
Enron employees
to come forward to "speak the truth" about Enron as
witnesses at his
criminal trial, which begins in a Houston federal courtroom in January
2006,
the Texas Lawyer reported today. Lay faces seven conspiracy
and fraud
charges in the trial before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake of Houston,
United
States v. Richard A. Causey, et al. Co-defendants are Jeffrey
Skilling,
former Enron chief executive officer, and Richard Causey, the
company’s former
chief accounting officer. All have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Lay said
that the Enron Task Force of federal prosecutors has identified 100
individuals
as unindicted co-conspirators, an action that makes them fearful of
testifying
at trial or even talking to defense lawyers in the case. But
Lay’s lead criminal
defense attorney, Houston solo Michael Ramsey, told reporters after
Lay’s speech
that, while he had not yet succeeded in getting any of the unindicted
co-conspirators
to talk to defense lawyers, he believes some will come forward before
the trial
begins on Jan. 17, 2006.
id='3'>Mesa
Air Group Again Bidding for Flyi
Mesa Air Group
Inc., the
regional carrier that tried to acquire the parent of Independence Air
two years
ago, has emerged as a bidder for the struggling company, the
Washington
Post reported today. If Mesa is successful in acquiring Flyi
Inc., the
Phoenix-based carrier could fold the airline into its overall
operations, dissolving
Independence’s separate identity and thereby returning the
Dulles, Va.-based
carrier to its original form, that of a regional feeder for larger
airlines.
Such a deal would also mean the Washington, D.C., area would lose one
of its
biggest and most influential low-cost carriers. After Independence
Air—with
its $29 and $39 fares—launched in summer 2004, air fares from
Dulles International
Airport to various cities dropped as much as 30 to 65 percent,
according to
a September report by the Transportation Department.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/14/AR20051…'>Read
more.
id='4'>Ohio
City Leaders Looking to Avert Bankruptcy
Last week, Ironton,
Ohio,
Finance Director Cindy Anderson and other members of the city council
began
figuring out where the city would have to trim its finances to keep
Ironton’s
head above water during a meeting of the Ironton Finance Committee,
the Ironton
Tribune reported yesterday. The city will be going into 2006 with
a meager
$88,000 in the bank, and—if no changes are made—the city
would enter
into 2007 in the red $373,000. The finance committee will first turn
itself
to the immediate future, settling on a temporary budget for January
during their
next meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
href='http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2005/12/14/news/news355.txt'>Read
more.
id='5'>Integrated
Electrical Considering Bankruptcy
Integrated
Electrical Services
Inc. said yesterday that it was considering filing for bankruptcy and
delayed
the release of its fourth-quarter results, Reuters reported yesterday.
The company,
which offers electrical system design and installation services, said
it reached
an agreement with noteholders to restructure its balance sheet. Under
the agreement,
IES said that it was considering filing a pre-packaged chapter 11
bankruptcy
plan that would result in the exchange of its senior subordinated
notes for
equity. It said that if the plan was completed, its senior
subordinated noteholders
would receive shares representing about 82 percent of the common stock
of the
reorganized company in exchange for all their notes.
href='http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=58109%2B15…'>Read
more.
id='6'>ATA
a Step Closer to Emerging from Bankruptcy
A federal judge
yesterday
cleared the way for ATA Airlines to begin the process of emerging from
bankruptcy,
the company said in a news release, the Associated Press reported
today. The
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis approved the company’s
disclosure statement,
which includes an analysis of the feasibility of the company’s
restructuring
plan. Now that the statement has been approved, ATA and its parent
company,
ATA Holdings Corp., along with other subsidiaries, can send the
reorganization
plan and disclosure statement to its qualifying creditors for votes on
the plan.
href='http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/business/13408258.htm'>Read
more.
id='7'>Refco
Emergency Motion Filed
Refco’s
official committee
of unsecured creditors filed an emergency motion seeking a court order
authorizing
the official committee of unsecured creditors to bring action to avoid
certain
post-petition transfers of securities from Refco Capital Markets Ltd.
(RCM)
to Refco Securities LLC, finding on a preliminary basis that such
transfers
violated 11 U.S.C. §549, and directing the immediate turnover to
RCM a
segregated account of securities and all proceeds resulting from
liquidation
thereof, BankruptcyData.com reported today.
id='8'>Winn-Dixie
Creditors Ask Court for Extension
Winn-Dixie’s
creditors have
asked a bankruptcy judge to grant the supermarket chain only another
30-day
extension to file its plan for
emerging from chapter 11, rather than the 90-day extension Winn-Dixie
is requesting,
the Associated Press reported yesterday. The creditors’
committee’s demand was
contained in court documents in which they stated that they oppose
Winn-Dixie’s
third request for a 90-day extension to file a business plan, claiming
that
30 days is enough. The committee indicated that Winn-Dixie, which is
struggling
to keep up with Publix Super Markets Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,
should be
able to submit its reorganization plan by Jan. 19. "A 30-day
extension
will keep all the parties’ efforts firmly focused on the goal;
namely the debtors’
(Winn-Dixie) timely emergence from bankruptcy sooner rather than
later, which
is in the best interest of all parties involved in the case," the
creditors’
committee said in the documents.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Winn-Dixie-Reorganization.h…'>Read
more.
id='9'>Michigan
Governor to Sign Business Tax Cut Bills, Provide Relief to
Automakers
The Michigan
Legislature
completed passage early yesterday of a $600 million tax relief bill
package
for large manufacturers that Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she will sign
into
law, Reuters reported yesterday. The legislation, which was designed
in part
to aid the state’s struggling automotive industry, will provide
the relief over
four years. The legislation will also maintain the current tax status
for auto
suppliers Delphi Corp., and Visteon Corp., allowing them to avoid a
massive
tax hike at the end of this year.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-economy-michigan.html?…'>Read
more.
id='10'>Kaiser
Agreement Approved
The U.S. bankruptcy
court
approved Kaiser Aluminum’s motion to enter into a participation
agreement with
the Clean Streams Foundation Inc. and a consent order and agreement
with the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection,
each regarding
post-mining obligations in respect to the Potato Ridge Mine near
Ohiopyle, Pa.,
BankruptcyData.com reported today. The court order further authorized
Kaiser
Aluminum to deposit $2,235,900 into the Ohiopyle Trust account.
International
id='11'>U.K.
Sprinter Faces Bankruptcy
Tim Montgomery, a
former
world 100 meters record-holder, has been stripped of his U.S. record
and now
faces bankruptcy, Newsquest reported today. The International
Association of
Athletics Federations still showed Montgomery on their ranking lists
yesterday,
though they say he can be pursued for repayment of all his prize and
appearance
money for the past four and a half years. However, they will listen to
tapes
of a BBC interview in which Dwain Chambers admitted having used a
designer steroid
in 2002 before considering whether to strip his records. Despite
indications
to the contrary from U.K. Athletics director of performance Dave
Collins, UK
Sport says there is no prospect of Chambers receiving further lottery
funding
on his return from suspension.
href='http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/52580.html'>Read
more.
id='12'>Court
Suspends Sale of Brazilian Airline
A Brazilian court
yesterday
suspended the sale of the country’s troubled Varig airline
pending approval
of creditors, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Judges at a Rio
de Janeiro
court said the sale of controlling interest in the flagship airline
had to be
approved at a meeting of Varig’s creditors on Dec. 19. On
Monday, a conglomerate
operated by the owner of two major Brazilian newspapers said it had
agreed to
pay $112 million for the right to run Varig for 10 years. The ailing
airline
was granted bankruptcy protection in July after buckling under the
weight of
debts totaling about 7.7 billion Brazilian reals (U.S. $3.4 billion).
The company
has also filed bankruptcy papers with New York’s Southern
District Court, seeking
protection from overseas creditors.