OPINION
April 11, 2013 | By Nicole Gelinas
After a federal judge ruled last week that the city of Stockton can reduce its debt through bankruptcy, observers began to frame the battle as one of municipal bondholders against public employees. But it's hard to shed tears for either of them. During the boom years, Stockton promised its future public-sector retirees free lifetime medical coverage. It also adopted rules allowing workers to spike their pensions by letting them include overtime and other payments from their final work year to calculate retirement pay. The city also issued far too many bonds.
NATIONAL
April 6, 2013 | By Michael Mello
Lawyers for Casey Anthony have filed suit in bankruptcy court to prevent one of her creditors from selling her life story. Bankruptcy trustee Stephen Meininger considers Anthony's story an asset akin to any other and is seeking the rights in perpetuity to that story as a way of earning money, according to various reports, including the Associated Press and the Orlando Sentinel . Anthony's daughter, Caylee Marie, was last seen in June...
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 3, 2013 | By Diana Marcum
What does it look like when a city goes bankrupt? The answer was sharp and clear at a contentious Stockton City Council meeting the day after a judge declared the city of 300,000 eligible for bankruptcy. The meeting began at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and ended shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday. The council opposed a sales tax intended to pay for more police officers, which could imperil the city's standing in Bankruptcy Court. PHOTOS: California cities in bankruptcy The chambers were packed with people who said that crime in California's second-most violent city was eating away at their lives.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 2, 2013 | By Diana Marcum
The city of Stockton's impending bankruptcy case sets up a battle over employee pensions. A federal judge ruled Monday that Stockton was eligible for bankruptcy protection , rebutting Wall Street creditors who claimed the city was not. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein found that Stockton can move forward with a plan to reorganize its debt. The city's creditors, he said, had acted in bad faith by refusing to negotiate. "The creditors got a big black eye today," said Karol Denniston, an attorney who helped draft the legislation that guided Stockton's mandated mediation before filing for Chapter 9 protection.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 1, 2013 | By Diana Marcum
A federal judge ruled Monday that Stockton is eligible for bankruptcy protection, despite the objection of creditors who argued the city could come up with more money. Stockton is the biggest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy. When it filed last June, Mayor Ann Johnston said there were no alternatives. "We are extremely disappointed that we have been unable to avoid bankruptcy," Johnston said in a statement at the time. "This is what we must do to get our fiscal house in order and protect the safety and welfare of our citizens.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 1, 2013 | By Diana Marcum
STOCKTON -- A federal judge ruled Monday that Stockton is eligible for bankruptcy protection, over the objection of creditors who argued the city could come up with more money. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein said Stockton can move forward with a plan to reorganize debt. He twice stated that the creditors had acted in bad faith and had refused to pay their share of the costs for negotiations. "The creditors got a big black eye today," said Karol Denniston, an attorney who helped draft the legislation that guided Stockton's mandated mediation before filing for bankruptcy protection.