Stockton’s Bankruptcy Plan Leaves A Big Question Unanswered

Detroit bankruptcy judge gives city 35 days to develop plan to liquidate lawsuits

petitioned to undertake a Chapter 9 bankruptcy reorganization last summer, creditors began girding for a fight. Now, just 15 months later, a more peaceful calm appears to be settling over the city. Stockton sought to restructure its debts by sticking bond investors and the insurers that guaranteed their debt with principal losses on their holdings, rare in the world of municipal bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the city hoped to continue paying its California Public Employees Retirement System bill in full, thereby setting up its bond creditors and public pension fund creditor for a http://the-bankruptcydirectory.com/ face-off over the citys dwindling coffers. But Stockton managed to reach a deal with all of its bond insurers and left CalPERS unimpaired, thereby averting the type of bankruptcy showdown feud that tends mire cities in litigation for years.The plan to exit bankruptcy was approved by the Stockton city council law week , and will work its way through the bankruptcy court in the coming months, according to Reuters . Stocktons proposal provides bond insurers with a greater recovery than they had initially been offered, largely by generating revenue through a sale tax increase, according to the Stockton Record . The tax hike is contingent on voter approval in November.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/10/07/stocktons-bankruptcy-plan-leaves-a-big-question-unanswered/

I feel compelled to ask you, How are you spending your time these days?Rhodes asked, drawing a few chuckles in the courtroom. Muller assured Rhodes he is keeping busy working on ongoing cases, including one that involves a building safety issue, and taking calls from angry plaintiffs lawyers asking where their settlements are. After hearing about 90 minutes of testimony from two city attorneys, Rhodes said he wasnt convinced that the city has any plan in the works to resolve the 500 lawsuits it is dealing with. "It is clear enough from the testimony of the witnesses that neither counsel for the city nor management of the city has yet spent any time focusing on this very issue of what should the process be to liquidate these claims. Or at least if any time has been spent on this issue, that certainly did not come through the testimony," Rhodes said. Rhodes told the city attorneys to get a plan in order by the 35-day deadline, or Ryan could proceed with her lawsuit. His decision, though, offered no comfort to the mother who said she has already waited too long for justice. Ryan believes the city owes her family an apology, claiming Detroit police went out of their way to protect one of their own: the husband. "This is just a slap in the face to our family," Ryan said of her lawsuit being on hold.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.freep.com/article/20131008/NEWS01/310080105/detroit-bankruptcy-hearing-rhodes

Free bankruptcy seminar at Project Self-Sufficiency in Newton

But opponents, especially the unions, argued the filing violated Michigan's state constitution. Moreover, these critics charged that Orr overlooked valuable assets owned by the city -- Belle Island, the Coleman A. Young International Airport, the art collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts -- whose worth far exceeds the city's debt, meaning Detroit was actually not eligible for bankruptcy protection. On September 19, in the ongoing bankruptcy drama in Detroit, the political turned personal when city-worker retirees, facing the devastating prospects of seeing their pensions cut, had their day in court. One after another, Judge Steven Rhodes heard 45 of 109 individuals who filed papers to be allowed to speak to the court and explain why the bankruptcy should not be allowed to proceed. The speeches were often emotional.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-alexander/detroit-bankruptcy-is-abo_b_4059612.html

Detroit Bankruptcy Is About Union Busting, Not Being Bankrupt

30, two days after the scheduled hearing. The Astros also say that Comcast orchestrated the (bankruptcy) filing in bad faith in an effort to gain a tactical advantage over the Astros in their partnership dispute. The request for a trustee, they add, is improper because the trustee would have power to make decisions regarding media rights agreements, which the Astros claim cannot be assigned as a matter of law. Because such intellectual property rights cannot be reassigned, and because the CSN Houston partnership dispute involves agreements that are governed by state law, the Astros claim that allowing the case to remain in bankruptcy is a road to nowhere. The Astros said CSN Houston failed to make rights fee payments to them that were due on July 31 and Aug. 30 and that the ballclub informed the network that it would terminate its agreement with CSN Houston and retake their broadcast rights as of Sept. 30 if the money was not delivered by Sept. 29. Comcast headed off that possibility by filing the bankruptcy case on Sept. 27 as an end run, according to the response filed Monday.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2013/10/07/astros-seek-dismissal-of-csn-houstons-bankruptcy-filing/

Federal judge must rule on Astros' request to dismiss bankruptcy case in CSN flap

The agencys legal services programs are sponsored by the Sussex County Family Success Center at Project Self-Sufficiency. Project Self-Sufficiency is a private non-profit community-based organization dedicated to improving the lives of low-income families residing in northwestern New Jersey. The agencys mission is to provide a broad spectrum of holistic, respectful, and comprehensive services enabling low-income single parents, teen parents, two-parent families, and displaced homemakers to improve their lives and the lives of their children while achieving personal and economic self-sufficiency and family stability. Since 1986 Project Self-Sufficiency has served more than 19,500 families, including more than 30,000 children. The free Bankruptcy seminar will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 7 9 p.m. at Project Self-Sufficiency, which is located at 127 Mill St.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2013/10/free_bankruptcy_seminar_at_pro.html