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September 21,
2006
id='1'>California
face='Times New Roman' size='3'> Sues 6 Automakers over Global
Warming
w:st='on'>
size='3'>California
the world’s six-largest automakers yesterday, demanding that they
pay for environmental damage caused by the emissions of their vehicles,
the New York
Times reported yesterday. “Vehicle
emissions are the single most rapidly growing source of the carbon
emissions contributing to global warming, yet the federal government and
automakers have refused to act,” said California Attorney General
Bill Lockyer. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in
California
to hold automakers accountable for the greenhouse gases that vehicles
produce. It accuses General Motors,
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Toyota
Honda, Chrysler and Nissan of creating a public nuisance by building
millions of vehicles that collectively discharge 289 million metric tons
of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually. Lockyer said he would
seek at least “tens of millions” in damages for past,
current and future contributions to air pollution, beach erosion and
reduced water supplies.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/business/21auto.html?ref=business&pag…'>Read
more.
id='2'>Senators Criticize Regulators over New
Mortgages
At a Senate Banking
Committee hearing yesterday, legislators and consumer advocates prodded
federal banking regulators to move more quickly to put restrictions on
non-traditional mortgage lending because, they said, these new kinds of
mortgages may place borrowers and lenders at financial risk, the
Washington Post
reported today. 'It seems to me there's been a race to
the bottom' in lending standards, said Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.). He said
that consumers don't seem to understand the new products, and that if
real estate values continue to fall, the market 'pullback' could become
'a prelude to a crash.'
size='3'>Until recently, the lending industry had said the loans were
being marketed to people with only the strongest financial records.
However, a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability
Office found that about three-quarters of people whose option-ARM loans
were packaged into securities in the first half of 2005 were not
required to fully document their income. At
yesterday's hearing, the regulators said the guidance was still a few
weeks away, something they have been telling legislators for several
months.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR20060…'>Read
more.
w:st='on'>
id='3'>Portland
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'> Archdiocese Bankruptcy Gets Second Major
Postponement
A federal judge postponed
a hearing in the Portland Archdiocese bankruptcy case yesterday that was
looking to address the hotly disputed issue of who owns parish property,
the Oregonian
reported yesterday. It's the second major postponement in
the bankruptcy since mediation talks started last week. On Friday, U.S.
District Judge Michael Mosman delayed until December a highly
anticipated trial involving allegations of priest sexual abuse. The gag
order in the case is preventing attorneys or parties involved in the
bankruptcy to discuss whether the postponements indicate that mediation
is making progress. The two mediators in the case are U.S. District
Judge Michael R. Hogan and Lane County Circuit Judge Lyle Velure.
size='3'>Portland
the first Catholic diocese in the country to seek bankruptcy protection
from priest abuse litigation in 2004.
href='http://newsroom.blogs.oregonlive.com/default.asp?item=185501'>Read
more.
id='4'>Congoleum Files Tenth Amended Reorganization
Plan
Bankrupt flooring
manufacturer Congoleum Corp. has filed a 10th amended reorganization
plan with the approval of its bondholders’ committee,
Portfolio Media
reported yesterday. The bankrupt flooring manufacturer
revealed the news on Wednesday, crediting Judge Kathryn Ferguson for
ordering mediation that helped paved the way for last Friday’s
filing. Based on the turnaround plan, which was entered in the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, Congoleum will now set
up a trust to pay its asbestos personal-injury claimants.
The trust is to be partially
funded by 3.8 million shares of new common stock and a new $2.7 million
convertible note with the rest of the proceeds coming from insurance
settlement agreements with Gilbert Heintz & Randolph LLP and Kenesis
Group litigation trust.
id='5'>Patent Management Firm Wants
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Delphi
Up
A patent portfolio
management company has complained that bankrupt auto parts manufacturer
Delphi Corp. is forcing it to pay
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Delphi
size='3'>'s patent renewal fees without agreeing to honor a contract
between the parties,
size='3'>Portfolio Media reported
yesterday.
size='3'>Computer Patent Annuities Ltd. filed a motion Tuesday seeking
to compel
size='3'>Delphi
reject a service contract for CPA to handle quarterly patent and design
patent renewals with global intellectual property agencies. According to
CPA’s motion, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern
District of New York,
size='3'>Delphi
patent renewal is essential to the company’s business operations
and reorganization efforts. CPA argued in court documents that advancing
additional monies on behalf of
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Delphi
size='3'>post-petition places an unreasonable financial burden on the
U.K.-based company.
Hedge
Funds Object to Refco Payment Plan
A group of hedge funds
counting on a return from investments made in Refco Inc. has called for
the bankruptcy court to stop the commodities brokerage from repaying
lenders $642 million,
size='3'>Portfolio Media reported yesterday.
The ad hoc equity committee, including JMB Capital Partners, Lonestar
Capital Management LLC and other hedge funds, owns more than 25 percent
of Refco’s stock, which was bought following Refco’s
collapse into bankruptcy in October 2005, according to court documents
filed Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District
of New York. The hedge funds requested that Judge
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Robert Drain
size='3'>deny Refco’s proposal to repay the company’s
secured lenders, including Bank of America Securities and Credit Suisse
First Boston, by tapping into proceeds received from a large lawsuit
settlement. The case is
size='3'>In re Refco Inc. et al., case number
05-60006, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New
York.
id='7'>Mediators Want to Hear from Northwest and Flight
Attendants
Federal mediators have
called for an update from Northwest Airlines Corp. and its flight
attendants, whose planned strike has been blocked by a federal judge,
the Associated Press reported yesterday. The National Mediation Board
summoned both sides to
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Washington
Sept. 26, according to a hotline message from the Northwest branch of
the Association of Flight Attendants late Wednesday. Northwest recently
won a court order barring the union from striking. The union has
appealed, but no hearing date has been scheduled. Though Northwest has
said it would be willing to negotiate, flight attendants have said they
won't negotiate if they have no right to strike.
href='http://www.woodtv.com/global/story.asp?s=5438522'>Read
more.
id='8'>NYRA Warns Bankruptcy Could Cost
w:st='on'>
York
Tracks
The New York Racing
Association said that if the state doesn't release $19 million of the
bailout it promised, bankruptcy court action could cost
York
size='3'>Belmont
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Saratoga
tracks, the Associated Press reported yesterday.
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>NYRA president and CEO Charlie Hayward
said increased revenue and spending cuts mean the private entity that's
held the state racing franchise since 1955 needs only $19 million more
of the $30 million promised by the state in December. He said the
infusion would help keep NYRA solvent until the franchise ends Dec. 31,
2007.
href='http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/2006-09-20-nyra-bailout_x.htm'>Read
more.
Judge
Sets Hearing in McLeodUSA Proposed Class-Action
Settlement
A federal judge has set a
hearing to consider a proposed $30 million settlement in class-action
lawsuits against former executives of McLeodUSA, the Associated Press
reported yesterday. The hearing by U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett will
be held on Nov. 29 in
w:st='on'>Sioux
City
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Iowa
size='3'>. Several lawsuits claim that officials with the Cedar
Rapids-based telecommunications company, including founder Clark McLeod,
misled shareholders about company performance and plans. McLeod filed
its second bankruptcy last year and emerged as a privately held company
in January.
href='http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5434721&nav=menu115_2_9'>Read
more.
href='http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5434721&nav=menu115_2_9'>