Results tagged “bankruptcy”

A company that provides a service we never even heard of called the Clear Registered Traveler Program has abruptly gone out of business, KCBS reports. Clear operated special security lanes at 20 airports around the country, including all 3 Bay Area airports, purporting to provide (for a $200 annual membership fee) a pre-screening service for frequent travelers that would allow them to scoot through security as if they were trusted government dignitaries. But as the WSJ puts it, "TSA never was comfortable with the notion of 'trusting' any travelers, so the security benefits of a Clear card boiled down to getting a special lane and some staff to help carry plastic tubs for you." Yeah, no wonder it flopped.

The state and our fair city have their share of budget woes, but Oakland is now considering pulling a Vallejo and filing for bankruptcy in the face of $100 million budget deficit in the coming year. Council member Ignacio De La Fuente told Chip Johnson that yes, shit has actually gotten that bad and they're taking into consideration. Oakland's troubles probably largely stem from property tax reassessments (with home value changes a bit more dramatic than in San Francisco County) and a lot of bad budgeting that occurred while the markets were still high. Just last month we heard of Mayor Dellums' proposal to lay off 140 of Oakland's 803 police officers in order to meet the budget shortfall -- which must not have gone over so well. Still no word on that federal grant...

The Mission Neighborhood Centers, Inc., one of the oldest nonprofits in the neighborhood, which is responsible for putting together the annual Carnaval and Cinco De Mayo festivals, along with many other invaluable programs, is at risk of losing half of its federal grants, due to poor accounting, financial strains, and accumulating debt caused by the organization's growing too fast in recent years for its overworked and underpaid staff to handle. Additionally, there was a loan renegotiation with Wells Fargo that threw the organization further into a downward spiral.

After failing to make a deal with creditors, automaker Chrysler will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today in New York. The White House had been pushing for controlled bankruptcy if the automaker wasn't able to restructure in time; according to CNBC, "The talks for a restructuring of Chrysler had had the full support of the company's key stakeholders, including the UAW and the largest creditors, but the rest of creditors did not agree." Bloomberg News reports, "The president’s staff plans to use the filing to pave the way for Fiat Spa to take a 20 percent stake in the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker." President Obama spoke about the bankruptcy filing just now, noting that it would be a "quick, official and controlled" process" that "will give Chrysler not only a chance to survive but to thrive in the global auto industry... I have every confidence that Chrysler will emerge from this process stronger and more competitive."

Area bankruptcy filings have gone up 50% in the first quarter of 2009, compared to last year, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Records at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Jose (which covers Santa Clara, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties) showed 2,399 filings in Q1 2009; for Q1 2008, there were just over 1,500 while in Q1 2006, there were just 500. One bankruptcy lawyer explained, "We're seeing cutbacks in electronics and at Sun, Yahoo — large numbers of people are having their income cut, and for many it's making their house unaffordable," while another points out many of those filings are from "people in their mid-50s, formerly with Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems, Intel and Applied Materials... They've been with these employers, in some cases, for decades. They are engineers, highly skilled people, and now they're being laid off. I didn't see that in the last downturn."

KRON 4's parent company, Young Broadcasting, (finally) filed for bankruptcy today, according to sources. KRON, once the Bay Area's NBC affiliate, has been for sale since last year. Most recently, Young Broadcasting Inc., skipped out on a $6.125 million interest payment to lenders. Back in November of 2008, Young made public that "it had been unable to sell KRON and might have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection." Looks like that day has finally come for the beleaguered San Francisco station. KRON bills itself as "the Bay Area's news station," featuring original programming and syndicated shows (like Dr. Phil and Sex and the City reruns). We'll update as soon as we know more.

Free from last last year's minority vs. self-loathing minority mayoral race headlines, Vallejo is now making national news by becoming California's largest city to file for bankruptcy. On Tuesday night, it seems, city council members voted unanimously to file before the fiscal year ends in June. In addition to a significant slump in property values and retail sales, the Bay Area city also faces a whopping budget deficit of $16 million.

Indianapolis-based ATA Airlines filed for bankruptcy last night "after it lost a key military charter contract amid skyrocketing fuel prices." This prompted the now-defunct airline to stop all service today, stranding thousands of passengers. (An aside: ABC 7's Terry McSweeney just, like, freaked the fuck out about it on the 11 a.m. news. Seriously, he said "dreams are being taken away." His head is going to explode.)

Your Black Muslim Bakery -- the prominent and notorious Oakland setting featured in many a Chauncey Bailey story -- will probably be sold today to Vital Life Services, a nondenominational "nonprofit serving people living with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses," founded in 1987. The high bidder NCK LLC, a limited liability corporation, plans on buying the space, then turning it over to VLS. (Aw.) The property was also sought after by several other interested...