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April 18, 2006
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>
name='1'>Utah
No. 3 in
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>U.S.
Households per Consumer Bankruptcy Filing
At one filing per 39.5
households in 2005,
size='3'>Utah
among all 50 states and the
w:st='on'>District of
Columbia
ended Dec. 31, according to a report released Monday by the American
Bankruptcy Institute, the
size='3'>Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News
size='3'>reported today. For three straight years, 2002-04,
size='3'>Utah
the
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>U.S.
households per consumer filing. At its height in 2003, roughly one in
36.6
size='3'>households filed for bankruptcy, according to the institute.
However, in 2005,
face='Times New
Roman' size='3'>Indiana
size='3'>took the top spot for bankruptcy filings at one filing for
every 34.4 households.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Ohio
at one filing per 37.2 households.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>South Carolina
size='3'>had the lowest ranking, with one filing per 123.2 households.
In spite of projected lower filings in 2006, ABI executive director
Sam Gerdano maintains
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>families remain under a high level of financial stress.
“They're very susceptible to any kind of interruption in their
income stream, and the law can't change that,” Gerdano said.
“The law just deals with the symptoms of financial
problems.”
href='http://deseretnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,635200483,00.html'>Read
more.
href='/am/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Releases1&ContentID=42636&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm'>Click
here to read ABI’s release on households per
filing.
Birch
Telecom Emerges from Bankruptcy
Birch Telecom Inc. said it has
emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Associated Press
reported yesterday. Under the Kansas City, Mo.-based company's
bankruptcy plan, Birch will cut its work force from 442 to 300 by the
end of the year and to 210 by the end of 2007. Birch's secured debt was
reduced from $108.6 million to $35 million. Creditors now own the
reorganized company, which formally emerged from bankruptcy on Thursday.
Birch serves about 130,000 customers in more than 50 metropolitan
markets.
href='http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060418/ap_on_bi_ge/birch_bankruptcy_1&prin…-'>Read
more.
name='3'>Calpine to take $7.1 Billion in 2005 charges
Calpine Corp. said it
expects to record $7.1 billion in various one-time charges for 2005 as
part of the power producer's latest move to fight its way out of
bankruptcy, Reuters reported yesterday. The charges relate to asset
writedowns and tax assets due to a number of factors, including
constraints resulting from its chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in December,
Calpine said in a release. The latest move in the company's road out of
bankruptcy comes after a bankruptcy judge last week granted Calpine an
extension of about eight months on the window during which it has the
sole right to file a reorganization plan for its business. Calpine filed
for bankruptcy with more than $22 billion in debts, one of the largest
insolvencies in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>history. The company, which spent heavily in the 1990s to
expand, ran into a weak power market and a credit crunch after the
collapse of Enron and the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>California
crisis.
href='http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/17/news/companies/calpine.reut/index.htm'>Read
more.
w:st='on'>
name='4'>Portland
face='Times


New
Roman' size='3'> Archdiocese Sex Abuse Cases Headed for
Court
A judge cleared the way Monday
for nearly 130 sex abuse claims to go to trial, almost two years after
the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland filed for bankruptcy, the
Associated Press reported today. The archdiocese and the alleged victims
have been unable to agree on terms of a settlement, and Monday was the
deadline for deciding whether to go to court. Nearly 40 cases are headed
to state court, and 88 alleged victims chose to have their cases heard
in federal court, said Erin Olson, attorney for several accusers. The
archdiocese became the nation's first Catholic diocese to declare
bankruptcy in July 2004. Its reorganization plan, which must include an
estimate of how much it will pay for the claims, is subject to approval
by creditors -- the alleged victims -- and the court.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Archdiocese-Bankruptcy.html?_r=1&…'>Read
more.
Autos
w:st='on'>
name='5'>U.S.
face='Times New Roman' size='3'> Trustee for Dana Corp. Opposes
Asbestos Committee
The U.S. Trustee for the
Southern District of New York filed an objection on Friday to a motion
that sought to establish a committee for individuals with
asbestos-related personal injury claims against Dana Corporation, which
is currently in chapter 11 proceedings,
size='3'>Portfolio Media reported yesterday.
Judge
size='3'>Burton R. Lifland will hear oral
arguments on the motion on April 19 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
lower
size='3'>Manhattan
Trustee Diana G.
Adams cited Dana’s estimates of its
asbestos liability, which put potential payouts at between $70 and 120
million over the next 15 years, calling this figure “a small
portion of the debtor’s overall unsecured debt.” This
estimate is sharply at odds with the estimate contained in the motion
papers filed by the ad hoc committee on March 29. The committee
referenced a 10-Q form filed by Dana on Sept. 30, 2005, which it says
shows that the company expects more than 88,000 claims to be
filed against Dana claiming exposure to asbestos, and that these claims
will cost in excess of $200 million to resolve. T
face='Times New


Roman'>
size='3'>he case is In
re Dana Corporation et al., case number
06-10354, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New
York.
name='6'>J.L. French Could Gain GM Business with Judge’s
Approval
General Motors will
siphon more business to bankrupt auto parts maker J.L. French Automotive
Castings Inc. in a purchase agreement between the companies, pending
approval by a federal judge,
size='3'>Portfolio Media reported yesterday.
In court documents filed last week in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the
District of Delaware, J.L. French stated that the proposed deal is the
result of recent “vigorous, arm’s-length negotiations”
with GM. Those
negotiations have been ongoing under the terms of the company’s
restructuring support agreement, which requires the auto parts maker to
obtain new business commitments from GM and from Ford Motor Co. and
DaimlerChrysler Corp. Although specific details of the agreement were
not released, J.L. French stated in court documents that the
contracts—which are expected to generate “significant
additional revenue”—would be awarded on the condition that
the bankruptcy court confirmed the company’s reorganization plan,
which was submitted earlier this month.
name='7'>Milbank Tweed Disqualified from
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Meridian
size='3'>Case
In a setback for Milbank
Tweed Hadley & McCloy, a federal bankruptcy judge has disqualified
the law firm from its involvement in the chapter 11 proceedings of
automotive parts supplier Meridian Automotive Systems Inc.,
Portfolio Media
reported yesterday. Milbank Tweed had been hired to
represent
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Meridian
first-lien debtholders in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of
Delaware, but Judge Mary
F. Walrath sided with hedge fund Stanfield
Capital Partners LLC to have the firm dismissed. Stanfield
Capital,
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Meridian
second-lien holder, argued in February that Milbank should be terminated
from the case because it was privy to inside information that could
undermine its efforts to provide the debtor with $76.6 million in exit
financing. Stanfield holds $37.8 million of
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Meridian
first-lien debt and $27.5 million of its second-lien debt. The
first-lien holders, which hold at least 25 percent of the debt, are
opposed to Stanfield Capital’s exit financing.
name='8'>Former Enron CEO’s Credibility Is
Questioned
Telling former Enron
Corp. chief executive Jeffrey K. Skilling that 'the most important thing
the jury has to rely on is your word,' prosecutor Sean M. Berkowitz
attacked Skilling's credibility in six hours of cross-examination
designed to cast him as a liar who made use of selective memory,
according to the
size='3'>Washington Post today. The primary
focus of the government's attack was not the maze of complex business
partnerships for which Enron has become infamous but something far
simpler: a $15 million stock sale by Skilling shortly after he left
the
size='3'>energy company. For the first time in the 12-week-old case,
prosecutors played an audiotape of Skilling telling securities
regulators in December 2001 that 'there is no other reason other than
September 11 that I sold Enron,' adding, 'Oh, I agonized over it.'
Government lawyers reminded the jury Monday about his Sept. 6 attempt
and implied that he used the terror attacks as a cover story to unload
stock before the public became aware of Enron's mounting financial
problems.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/17/AR20060…'>Read
more.
International
w:st='on'>
name='9'>Montreal
face='Times New Roman' size='3'> Orchestra Seeks Bankruptcy
Protection
A protracted legal
dispute with a former conductor forced
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Montreal
l'Orchestre Métropolitain to seek bankruptcy protection last week,
though the orchestra insists its overall financial health is sound,
the Toronto Globe and
Mail reported today. Joseph Rescigno sued
the
size='3'>OM
after he was replaced as music director six years ago, and in January,
the Quebec Court of Appeal found the orchestra liable for loss of salary
and defamation. On March 30, Rescigno's lawyer delivered letters of
seizure to the
size='3'>OM
government funder, cutting off important sources of cash flow.
Rescigno's claim is said to amount to $250,000. The OM took in $200,000
at a recent benefit concert at
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Concordia
size='3'>University
university also received a letter of seizure, the
w:st='on'>OM
is barred from receiving the money till Rescigno's claim
is settled.
href='http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060418.NOTE18-2/TPSt…'>Read
more.