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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday as part of a proposed $15 million settlement for hundreds of victims who say clergy members sexually abused them over decades while the church covered it up, the Associated Press reported on Friday. The chapter 11 reorganization plan comes after confidential mediation sessions with the plaintiffs' attorneys and insurers, resulting in a proposed deal to resolve the abuse claims, diocese officials said. Bishop George Leo Thomas expressed "his profound sorrow" and apologized to the victims in a news conference. The $15 million "will at least be a beginning point for people who are seeking resolution in their lives and in their hearts," Thomas said. In addition to the money, the diocese must publicly apologize, publish the names of clergy members who have been credibly accused of abuse, offer to meet with abuse survivors, provide victim counseling and reinforce its policies and procedures to prevent abuse, plaintiffs' attorneys said.

Hibu Inc., the publisher of “Yellowbook” phone directories in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy court protection to aid the U.K. restructuring that began this month, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The company, based in Reading, England, owes creditors more than $1 billion, according to a chapter 15 filing that seeks to block lawsuits and organize creditors in the U.S. Hibu, which also prints yellow pages in the U.K. and Spain, began reorganizing in U.K. courts on Jan. 17 after earnings fell on competition from the Internet. Before court proceedings began, Hibu negotiated a restructuring in July that would reduce its debt by 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion) while giving lenders control of the company, formerly known as Yell. The case is In re Hibu Inc., 14-bk-70323, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York (Central Islip).

Battery startup Xtreme Power based in Lyle, Texas, filed for chapter 11 protection on Thursday, GreenTechMedia.com reported today. Xtreme plans to “continue its operations at all locations as it begins a process to identify an acquirer,” according to the company, with general creditors providing financing. The company's core engineering, project development and operations staff will remain in place during this process. CEO Alan Gotcher stated that the bankruptcy filing has been “structured to allow one of the company's creditors to file a stalking-horse bid” if competing bids don't emerge by the end of February. He added that Xtreme has a pipeline of business in excess of $100 million and letters of intent for another $65 million of new business, and projects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization would reach break-even later this year.

The 129-year-old publisher of Fredericksburg, Va.’s Free Lance-Star newspaper filed for bankruptcy, saying that creditor Sandton Capital Partners LP pressed the company to enter court protection to sell its assets, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Free Lance-Star Publishing Co., which also owns radio stations and websites, listed assets and debt of more than $50 million each in chapter 11 documents filed yesterday. Free Lance-Star, owned by the Rowe family, was undone by a loan it took out from BB&T Corp. to build a printing plant in 2007. Sandton, a New York-based investment firm, bought the loan in June after Free Lance-Star violated covenants, then urged the publisher to file in chapter 11 and sell its assets, according to a court filing.

Dots LLC, the 400-store clothing chain for young women, filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming prior management, the economy and leases that cost too much, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The company, founded 27 years ago outside Cleveland, has arranged to borrow $36 million to keep operating as it reorganizes under chapter 11 protection and implements a new merchandising strategy. In October, vendors began demanding Dots pay for new goods faster than the company could afford, “causing significant liquidity challenges,” Chief Executive Officer Lisa Rhodes said in a court affidavit filed yesterday. For the 12 months ending Jan. 31, the company had about $293.7 million in sales, Rhodes said. That’s down from $338.8 million in the previous 12 months and $346.2 million the year before that.

ATI Enterprises Inc., the for-profit school that agreed to pay the U.S. $3.7 million over allegations it submitted false claims for student financial aid, filed to liquidate, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The New York-based company, doing business as ATI Career Training Center, listed debt of as much as $500 million and assets of less than $50,000 in chapter 7 papers filed yesterday. Four affiliates also sought court protection. ATI once ran a chain of more than 20 vocational schools with more than 15,000 students in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Florida that have since shut down. Whistleblowers sued in 2009 and 2011 accusing the company of committing fraud in its enrollment practices.

Bombarded by lawsuits and under federal investigation, the chemical company that spilled a dangerous solvent into a West Virginia river and fouled the drinking water of 300,000 people filed for chapter 11 protection Friday, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday. Freedom Industries Inc., owner of a storage tank that ruptured Jan. 9 and spilled 7,500 gallons of a coal-treatment foaming agent called MCHM into the Elk River, sought protection from creditors under a chapter 11 filing by its parent company, Chemstream Holdings Inc. of Pennsylvania. The spill prompted the governor to order residents of nine counties in the Charleston area not to use tap water for anything but flushing toilets. In court documents, Freedom Industries says a water line break brought on by frigid temperatures may have caused "an object piercing upwards" to punch a hole in the 35,000-gallon storage tank, allowing the chemical to flow down an embankment into the river. In the filing, Freedom estimates its total liabilities and total assets at between $1 million and $10 million each. The company was founded in 1992, but has existed in its current form only since Dec. 31, when it merged with three other companies under the Freedom Industries name.

Plextronics, the venture-backed Pittsburgh company that is developing electronic inks designed for use in organic LED televisions and lighting applications, has filed chapter 11 protection, Optics.org reported yesterday. Despite the bankruptcy application, Plextronics said that it had filed a series of customary motions to ensure the continuation of normal operations during the process, and stressed that its “Plexcore” products would remain available. According to the company’s most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which dates from October 2013, Plextronics had been seeking to raise $5 million in debt-based securities. But at the time of that filing, only $572,000 had been raised. In its chapter 11 petition filed on Jan. 16, the company estimated that it had liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million.

The Diocese of Stockton, Calif., filed for chapter 11 protection on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The diocese serves an ethnically diverse population of about 250,000 Catholics in a region spanning more than 10,000 square miles. It has paid more than $14 million in settlements and judgments to victims of sexual abuse, and its insurance providers have paid an additional $18 million. The diocese's attorney, Steven Felderstein, said it had roughly $17 million in outstanding debts and that its legal fees for the bankruptcy easily could be $1 million or more.

Edgenet Inc. filed for chapter 11 protection on Tuesday in an effort to safeguard the planned sale of the company during a fight among creditors, who are battling over how to split up the proceeds, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Citing "the real likelihood that the sale process will be stymied due to the dispute" between secured creditors owed a combined $103 million, the Atlanta company sought bankruptcy protection to ease the sale of its business. Edgenet provides technology that supports the sale of goods and services across mobile devices, on the web and in stores. No committed buyer has been signed up yet, but Edgenet Chief Financial Officer Juliet Reising said in court papers that the company is in "serious discussions with possible purchasers" and "strongly" believes a purchaser will be identified soon to lead a bankruptcy auction.