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March 2, 2006
name='1'>Backers of Asbestos Bill Are Facing Steep Fight in
Senate
Sponsors of asbestos
legislation face a steep climb to get their bill back to the Senate
floor, falling short of collecting the 60 signatures needed to meet the
easier of two tests that Senate leaders set after the bill failed on a
procedural vote last month,
size='3'>CongressDaily reported today.
Reluctant to schedule more floor time for the complicated asbestos bill
unless he was confident it would come to a final vote, Majority Leader
Frist has asked Judiciary Chairman Specter, the asbestos bill's lead
sponsor, to produce letters assuring him at least 60 senators would vote
to overcome a budget point of order against a bill and to invoke
cloture, which would move the bill to an up-or-down vote. However,
sources said Wednesday that at least six Republicans are balking at
signing a letter asking Frist to reschedule a vote to waive the budget
point of order, which is considered the easier of the two votes. A
meeting of the Republican Conference to discuss the matter Wednesday was
canceled; Specter's spokesman said the issue was covered instead during
a Republican Steering Committee meeting, although he did not say how
many senators had signed the letter.
GB
Holdings Seeks Funds for Icahn’s Defense
Carl Icahn’s bankrupt
holding company has asked for approval to use insurance funds to
cover defense costs for
Icahn and other former executives embroiled in a shareholder
lawsuit, Portfolio
Media reported yesterday. GB Holdings Inc.,
which once owned the Sands Hotel and Casino in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Atlantic City
told a bankruptcy court judge that Icahn and other executives need the
insurance money to fund their defense in a battle with shareholders who
have tried to block the transfer of the hotel to one of Icahn’s
other companies. GB
Holdings has asked the court to allow its insurance company,
National Union Fire
Insurance Co., to pay $75,000 to fund the executives’ defense. The
policy allows for up to $15 million in coverage. The holding
company’s insurers have refused to turn over the funds without
bankruptcy court approval. The bankruptcy case is
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>GB Holdings Inc.
size='3'>, chapter 11 petition number 05-42736-JHW in the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.
Approves Anchor Glass Chapter 11 Plan for Vote
Despite U.S. Trustee objections
last week that Anchor Glass Container Corp.’s chapter 11
reorganization plan and disclosure statement lacked vital information, a
U.S. Bankruptcy Court granted the company’s request Wednesday to
submit its proposed plan
size='3'>and statement for voting,
size='3'>Portfolio Media reported yesterday. A
confirmation hearing is scheduled for April 17, and if the plan is
approved by the court, Anchor Glass plans to emerge from bankruptcy in
late April. Both committees for noteholders and unsecured creditors
informed Anchor Glass that they intend to recommend the approval of the
plan. Last Wednesday, the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>trustee claimed Anchor Glass’ statement lacked essential
financial attachments needed for creditors to evaluate whether to
approve the plan. The case is
size='3'>Anchor Glass Container Corporation,
size='3'>case number 05-bk-15606-ALP, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for
the Middle District of Florida’s
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Tampa
size='3'>division.
Asbestos-Related Reorganization Approved
In a move that promises to
shield ABB Ltd. from future asbestos litigation troubles, a bankruptcy
court has approved the amended reorganization plan of the
Swiss/Swedish
size='3'>engineering group’s
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>subsidiary, Combustion Engineering, Portfolio Media
reported yesterday. The company announced the
plan’s confirmation on Wednesday, a day after
face='Times New Roman'>the trial’s minutes revealed
that the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>New
Jersey
intended to approve the settlement proposal. Under the proposed plan,
which protects ABB and its subsidiaries against current and future
asbestos claims, ABB has earmarked $1.43 billion for a trust fund that
will handle any asbestos-related litigation against
CE.
Dana
Lets Bond Payments Lapse, Stoking Concern over Finances
Dana Corp. said it didn't
pay $20.8 million in interest payments on two of its bonds that were due
yesterday, heightening investor concerns about the automotive-parts
supplier's finances as it continues to work with its lenders, the
Wall Street Journal
reported today.
size='3'>The
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Toledo
size='3'>,
size='3'>Ohio
said this week that it expects to reach a new deal with its lenders
within two weeks. 'Missing a payment could be either an ominous
development that is a sign of a bankruptcy at Dana,' said Shelly
Lombard, senior high-yield analyst at Gimme Credit. Dana was due to make
interest payments on two securities, a 6.5 percent note due 2009 and a 7
percent note due 2029. By failing to make those payments, Dana starts
the clock on a 30-day grace period with its lenders, the bondholders.
Dana had $700 million in cash at the end of the third quarter, the most
recent figure available. For the period, the company reported a $1.27
billion loss and sales of $2.4 billion.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB114126183625487072.html'>Read
more.
ABFS
Trustee Seeking Return of Some Payments
The bankruptcy trustee
liquidating American Business Financial Services Inc. is demanding that
some creditors return payments made by the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Philadelphia
size='3'>mortgage lender just before it sought protection, the
Philadelphia
Inquirer reported today.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Philadelphia
size='3'>accountant George L. Miller said yesterday that he had not
decided whether to extend this demand to the mostly elderly investors in
unsecured notes who received interest payments or redeemed notes in the
90 days before ABFS filed for protection on Jan. 21, 2005. To save
money, ABFS is not mailing Form 1099s to investors, Miller said. They
would not have 2005 income to report unless they added unpaid interest
to the claims they submitted to the bankruptcy court, he said.
href='http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/inquirer/business/13994641.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp'>Read
more.
name='7'>Bankruptcies in
w:st='on'>
Down
Bankruptcy filings
in
size='3'>Hawai'i
percent from the 2005 level to 57, according to figures released today
by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Honolulu
the Honolulu
Advertiser reported today. Through the first
two months of the year, filings are down 81 percent from last year.
Bankruptcies statewide spiked last year in advance of a change in
federal bankruptcy laws making it tougher for people to erase debt.
Before last year, bankruptcy rates had fallen since 2001 during an
economic expansion driven by strong real estate, construction and
tourism.
href='http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Mar/02/bz/FP603020317.html'>Read
more.
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Northwest
Ohio
size='3'> Bankruptcy Cases Continue to
Decline
For the fourth straight
month since the federal bankruptcy law changed, bankruptcy filings in a
21-county northwest
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Ohio
well below levels of a year ago, the
size='3'>Toledo Blade reported today. However,
David Fickel, clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Toledo
yesterday that cases are 'starting to creep back up,' and he believes
many debtors are getting more comfortable with new requirements such as
mandatory credit counseling and money-management classes. For February,
there were 161 filings, down 81 percent from 888 a year earlier. For the
first two months this year, the local court reported 271 cases, down 81
percent from 1,490 for the period a year ago.
href='http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/BUSINESS06/603020346/-1/RSS04'>Read
more.
name='9'>Calpine Program, Payments Approved
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court
signed an order approving Calpine’s motion to implement a
severance program on the grounds that it is in the “best interest
of the Debtors and the estate,” BankruptcyData.com reported
today The program was developed by Watson
Wyatt Worldwide and will cost the Company approximately $10.8 million
over a two-year period. Separately, the court also approved the
company’s motion to pay retroactive wage increases under certain
collective bargaining agreements. The order grants the company authority
to pay its union employees wage increases “in accordance with the
terms of the new CBAs [collective bargaining agreements] in an amount
not to exceed $125,000.”
id='10'>Judge OKs Refco Art Auction
A federal bankruptcy
judge has approved Refco Inc. to enlist the help of three auction firms
in selling off its extensive photograph collection, a move that is
expected to bring in as much as $7 million towards paying off the
company’s $16.8 billion debt,
size='3'>Portfolio Media reported today.
Though the collection’s sale would only represent a small fraction
of the billions of dollars the company owes its creditors, Refco must
liquidate whatever assets it can in accordance with bankruptcy
proceedings. Sales at the auction houses—including the famed
Christie’s—are set to begin late next month. The collection,
reportedly acquired for less than $3.5 million, includes 500 photographs
by artists such as Cindy Sherman, Charles Ray, Diane Arbus and Andy
Warhol, according to Refco’s curator. Forty of the most valuable
works with reserves, or minimum sales prices,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>will be auctioned off separately in
early May.
w:st='on'>Florida
w:st='on'>
size='3'> Hospital
face='Times New Roman' size='3'> Files for
Bankruptcy
A year after being bought
by a new ownership group, South Beach Community Hospital has closed its
doors to patients and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection,
the Florida Business
Journal reported yesterday. The application
lists no assets and debts totaling more than $5.3 million. It listed 113
creditors, the largest being $2.16 million owed to Regions Bank and $1.1
million owed to
size='3'>South
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Beach
size='3'>Heights
size='3'>Crescent
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Heights
Miami-based condo converter that leases the hospital its
facility. The
hospital discharged its remaining patients and dismissed all employees
except for a skeleton crew that's cleaning up, said Paul
Orshan, the hospital's bankruptcy attorney. The hospital owners
are in discussions with two local groups to purchase the hospital
license and reestablish operations under new ownership, Orshan said.
Money from that sale could pay off creditors. If the hospital can't be
sold, he said, the bankruptcy case might become a chapter 7.
href='http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2006/02/27/daily38.html?jst=b_ln_hl'>Read
more.
w:st='on'>
id='12'>Illinois
face='Times









New
Roman' size='3'> Diocese Hit with
Class-Action Suit
More than 35 years after
he says a Roman Catholic priest molested him at a Downers Grove parish,
a 52-year-old Minneapolis man has filed a class-action lawsuit against
the Diocese of Joliet (Ill.), saying its bishops 'revictimized him' for
decades, the Chicago
Sun-Times reported yesterday. Lawyers for
George Knotek filed the class-action lawsuit in DuPage County Court in
part to try to force Bishop Joseph Imesch, head of the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Joliet
disclose the names of all priests accused of sexually abusing minors.
The lawsuit, which does not seek monetary damages, also asks that the
diocese turn over all documents regarding clergy molestation of children
for court supervision so the documents cannot be destroyed, hidden or
'misplaced.'
href='http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-cath01.html#'>Read
more.
Airlines
id='13'>Northwest Attendants Agree to Concessions as Pilots
Continue Talks
Flight attendants at
Northwest Airlines agreed to wage concessions of $195 million a year as
the airline continued negotiating with its pilots to accept more cuts
and avoid the possibility of having their contract voided by a
bankruptcy court, the
size='3'>New York Times reported today. The
two sides were still talking late Wednesday, and Mr. Holman said
that Bankruptcy Judge
size='3'>Allan L. Gropper had delayed any
decision on whether to void the pilots' contract until at least
Thursday, when he is to receive an update. The 8,700 active Northwest
flight attendants, represented by the Professional Flight Attendants
Association, agreed on Wednesday to concessions of about 20 percent to
avoid the possibility of having their contract nullified by the
bankruptcy court. Union negotiators said they did not want to risk
losing other benefits. Only the pilots at Northwest have yet to agree to
concessions. Judge Gropper is expected to receive an update on Thursday
and could then rule on Northwest's motion to set aside the pilots'
contract and impose cuts.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/business/02air.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
id='14'>Delta, Pilots Fail to Reach Agreement
No deal was reached by a
Wednesday deadline between Delta Air Lines Inc. and its pilots over
long-term pay and benefit cuts, sending the carrier's request to throw
out its pilot contract to arbitration, the Associated Press reported
yesterday. The union that represents the Atlanta-based airline's 6,000
pilots says it will strike if its contract is voided. The nation's
third-largest carrier has described a strike as 'murder-suicide' and
said such action would put it out of business. The sole purpose of the
arbitrators is to decide whether to grant Delta's request to throw out
its contract with its pilots so the airline can impose $325 million in
cuts unilaterally. Nothing precludes the sides from continuing to
negotiate up to and through the hearings. The two sides agreed to
arbitration instead of letting the bankruptcy court make the decision.
Another negotiating session was expected Friday, company spokesman Bruce
href='http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB114125149614486819.html'>Read
more.