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December 27, 2004
Threats of Arrest End Boston Church Sit-in
Parishioners ended their vigil at a Roman Catholic parish on Sunday
after police threatened to arrest anyone who refused to leave, according
to the Associated Press. About a dozen parishioners filed out the Sacred
Heart Church into the snow at about 1:15 p.m. after the church’s
final Mass on Sunday, the day the 114-year-old church was scheduled to
close as part of the Archdiocese of Boston’s restructuring plan.
The vigil began after Christmas Eve Mass on Friday at the church about
20 miles west of Boston, but was suspended soon after when the pastor
called police. Two parishioners were arrested for refusing to leave.
Sacred Heart is one of 83 churches being closed as part of a
reorganization plan announced last spring by Archbishop Sean
O’Malley. The closures are in response to declining attendance and
financial pressure caused in part by the clergy sex abuse crisis.
Worker Shortage Snarls U.S. Airways Flights
Bankrupt US Airways late Saturday blamed more than 300 canceled
flights and thousands of pieces of stranded luggage on the aftereffects
of a heavy winter storm and large numbers of workers who called in sick
during the crucial holiday travel period, Reuters reported. The
disruption to thousands of travelers on troubled US Airways had the
carrier scrambling and caught the attention of the U.S. Transportation
Department, which told the airline to quickly straighten out its
operations and its labor shortages. The company and unions say there was
no organized “sick out,” but workers at the seventh-largest
domestic airline are bitter about huge wage and benefit cuts the company
says are needed for the airline to survive. They are also angry at how
the company has been managed through two bankruptcies in two years,
according to Reuters. US Airways canceled 176 flights on Friday and 143
flights on Saturday mainly due to “an unusually high number”
of flight attendants and other workers calling in sick, said an airline
spokeswoman.
Adelphia Files Audited Annual Reports
Bankrupt cable operator Adelphia Communications Corp. on Thursday
filed audited financial reports with revenue and per-share loss results
for the past several years, as the company mulls a possible sale,
according to Reuters. The fifth largest U.S. cable operator, whose
founder and son await sentencing following their conviction on 18 counts
of bank fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy in July, said it had a
per-share loss of $3.31 last year on revenue of $3.61 billion. The
company said it had a 2002 share per-share loss of $28.87 on revenue of
$3.27 billion. For 2001, it had a loss of $35.07 a share on revenue of
$3.33 billion, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
filing.
Global Crossing Seals $404M Debt Financing
Global Crossing Ltd., the formerly bankrupt telecom company, on
Thursday said a UK unit had completed a $404 million debt financing,
which is part of a previously announced recapitalization plan, according
to Reuters. The debt financing by Global Crossing (UK) Finance Plc.
consists of $200 million of U.S. dollar-denominated senior secured notes
due in 2014 and 105 million pounds of British pounds
sterling-denominated senior secured notes due 2014.
New Trustees Appointed for Regions 3 and 17
Kelly Beaudin Stapleton of Indiana, Pa., has been appointed U.S.
Trustee for Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey (Region 3), Lawrence
Friedman, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (EOUST)
announced in a press release. Ms. Stapleton’s appointment takes
effect on Jan. 9, 2005. Immediately before joining the U.S. Trustee
Program, Ms. Stapleton practiced law with firms in Philadelphia and
Indiana, Pa., with an emphasis upon commercial litigation. Prior to
that, she was assistant counsel for the Allegheny Health, Education, and
Research Foundation in Philadelphia, handling all in-house litigation as
well as development of the foundation's code of ethics and employee
ethics training. She has also served as an assistant district attorney
in Philadelphia.
In addition, Sara L. Kistler has been appointed Acting U.S. Trustee
for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California and the District of
Nevada (Region 17) for an interim period also effective Jan. 9, 2005.
Ms. Kistler will replace William T. Neary, U.S. Trustee for the Northern
and Eastern Districts of Texas (Region 6), who has served in addition as
U.S. Trustee for Region 17 since July 2002. Prior to her appointment,
Ms. Kistler was Acting Deputy Director in the Executive Office for U.S.
Trustees in Washington, D.C., where she has also served as Acting
Assistant Director for Research and Planning/Review and Oversight.
Before being detailed to the Executive Office, Ms. Kistler had served as
Assistant U.S. Trustee for the Program’s Tampa office since
1991.