A federal bankruptcy judge yesterday delayed ruling on a motion that would open a 30-day bidding process for the purchase of the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail, the paper reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Volk said that he and involved parties hadn’t had enough time to review a motion outlining the the procedures related to submitting bids and the actual sale of the newspaper during a hearing. The owners of the Gazette-Mail filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday. The 168-page motion outlining the bidding process was one of nine motions filed in the bankruptcy case of Charleston Newspapers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of West Virginia. Volk approved the other eight motions, most of which were to authorize owners of the paper to engage in financial transactions that would allow for regular operation of the newspaper during bankruptcy proceedings. The bankruptcy filing on Tuesday set off a 60-day countdown until new ownership could take over the operations of the newspaper.
