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September 9, 2005
name='1'>Reps. Introduce
Bill to Relieve Burden of Katrina Survivors
Yesterday, 32
Democratic
members of Congress, led by Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), Mel Watt
(D-N.C.),
Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), introduced
the "Hurricane
Katrina Bankruptcy Relief and Community Protection Act of 2005,”
according
to a House Committee on the Judiciary Democratic Members press
release. The
act is intended to protect families and small businesses financially
devastated
by Hurricane Katrina from being penalized by what the sponsors call
anti-debtor
provisions contained in BAPCPA.
href='http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/index.html'>Download
Conyers’ release. In addition, H.R. 3662, the Financial
Safeguards for Hurricane
Survivors Act of 2005 was introduced in the House on Tuesday by Rep.
Louise
Slaughter (D-N.Y.). If enacted, the bill would delay for two years
from Sept
1, 2005, the general effective date of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention
and Consumer
Protection Act of 2005. The bill was referred to the Judiciary and the
Financial
Services Committees.
id='2'>Senate
HELP Panel Clears Pension Bill
The Senate Health,
Education,
Labor and Pensions Committee adopted legislation tightening rules that
govern
how companies fund their pension plans, Congress Daily reported
yesterday.
But the bill will undergo significant changes before heading for a
floor vote
as it is merged with the Finance Committee’s pension bill.
Several panel members
on both sides of the aisle withdrew amendments to the bill, after
getting HELP
Chairman Sen. Michael Enzi’s (R-Wyo.) assurances he would work
with them before
the legislation is finalized. The committee approved the bill 18-2.
href='http://nationaljournal.com/members/markups/2005/09/mr_20050908_2.htm'>Read
more.
id='3'>Consumer
Credit Up in July
U.S. consumer
credit rose
slightly in July to an annualized rate of 2.5 percent, after rising at
a nearly
4 percent pace in the second quarter, United Press International
reported yesterday.
A moderate increase in non-revolving loans, such as mortgages and car
loans,
was partly offset by a small decline in revolving credit, typically
credit card
debt, according to the Federal Reserve. The $4.4 billion rise in
consumer debt
was far less than the $10 billion economists had expected. Revolving
credit,
like credit card debt, fell by $1 billion, or 1.5 percent, and
non-revolving
credit like auto loans gained $5.4 billion, or 4.8 percent.
id='4'>Kaiser
Could Leave Bankruptcy in January
Kaiser Aluminum
Corp. said
that a U.S. Bankruptcy Court has approved a disclosure statement for
its latest
reorganization plan, which could allow it to emerge from bankruptcy by
late
January or early February 2006, Reuters reported yesterday. The plan
would result
in the cancellation of the equity interests of current stockholders
and the
distribution of equity in the emerging company to creditors or
creditor representatives.
href='http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=83809%2B09-Sep-2005%2BRTRS&srch=kaiser'>Read
the full story.
id='5'>Lawsuit
Filed Over Praxair Fire
Two Connecticut men
have
sued a Praxair compressed-gas plant, claiming that a massive fire
punctuated
by explosions this summer spread debris with asbestos in it, and that
the company
did not adequately notify the public, the Associated Press reported
yesterday.
The suit seeks class-action status, meaning it could eventually
include more
residents and business owners, said that one of the attorneys who
filed the
suit Friday. The suit claims that Praxair carelessly generated, stored
and failed
to control materials at its plant on the edge of the Lafayette Square
neighborhood,
"resulting in the release of asbestos and toxic substances."
href='http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct--st.louis-fire0908sep08,0,7399937.story?coll=ny-region-apconnecticut'>Read
more.
id='6'>State
Senator Loses 18 Gas Stations
A state senator who
owns
gas stations has lost 18 of them in a buyout that was part of a
bankruptcy settlement
last month, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Sen. Jeffry
Armbruster
(R-Ohio) said that his Armbruster Energy Enterprises LLC is now closed
and his
Pinzone Armbruster Inc. will continue running with 185 employees. He
blamed
the financial problems on faulty revenue projections. Both of his
companies
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in November.
href='http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/12591550.htm'>Read
more.
id='7'>Company
Files Chapter 11 Proceeding in Phoenix
Three-Five Systems
Inc. filed
for chapter 11 with the federal bankruptcy court in Arizona,
PRNewswire reported
yesterday. The bankruptcy petition is part of ongoing actions taken by
the company
to sell off its assets and subsidiaries, wind up its business, and
attempt to
preserve the value of the company for its shareholders. As part of the
bankruptcy
proceedings, the company will file financial statements with the
bankruptcy
court.
href='http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-08-2005/0004103595&EDATE'>Read
the full story.
id='8'>Northwest,
Mechanics Resume Talks
Labor negotiations
resumed
between Northwest Airlines and the union representing 4,400 striking
mechanics
and maintenance workers, Reuters reported yesterday. The airline has
made it
clear that it may soon hire its temporary workers permanently and that
it may
offer terms less advantageous to the striking workers than those in
its last
proposal.
href='http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=221400%2B08-Sep-2005%2BRTRS&srch=northwest'>Read
the full story.
id='9'>Appeals
Court Affirms Ruling in Favor of Home Healthcare Co.
American
HomePatient Inc.announced
that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the
ruling by
the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee—
subsequently
affirmed by the U.S. District Court —approving the
company’s plan of reorganization
that became effective July 1, 2003, World Disease Weekly
reported yesterday.
The approved plan allowed the company to continue its business
operations uninterrupted,
led by its current management team, and accomplished the
company’s primary goal
of restructuring its long-term debt obligations to its lenders. In
addition,
the approved plan provided that the company’s shareholders
retained their equity
interest in the company and that all of the company’s creditors
and vendors
were to be paid 100 percent of all amounts owed, either immediately or
href='http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=200509131700.46_07b200082e729840'>Read
the full story.
id='10'>Judge
Approves Winn-Dixie Extension
Winn-Dixie Stores
Inc. received
court approval to extend the deadline on filing its chapter 11 plan
until December,
the Jacksonville Florida Times Union reported yesterday. But
it’s still
uncertain whether the Jacksonville, Fla.-based supermarket chain can
meet that
deadline. Winn-Dixie expects to continue operating with 587 stores
when it emerges
from chapter 11, but 28 of those stores are closed because of
Hurricane Katrina,
according to an attorney representing the company. The uncertainty
surrounding
Winn-Dixie’s operations in the New Orleans area could affect the
timing of the
reorganization.