Max & Erma’s owner seeks Bankruptcy Protection

October 31, 2009 By

Max & Erma’s Restaurants Inc. has filed for bankruptcy court protection from creditors amid mounting legal and financial challenges for the Columbus-based dining chain.

The 106-unit restaurant business, which was acquired last year by Gary Reinert Sr.’s Pittsburgh-based G&R Acquisitions Inc., filed Friday for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh.

Consultant Tracy Coats said Monday that he earlier advised Reinert to consider Chapter 11 reorganization for the restaurant chain but Reinert resisted until National City Corp. called in its loan to Max & Erma’s.

“He told me he wasn’t someone who hides from his debts,” Coats said. “The notion was repugnant to him.”

National City secured cognovit judgments in September and October for $15.9 million against Max & Erma’s, G&R, Reinert and Damon’s International Inc., the Columbus-based chain of 50 restaurants also acquired by Reinert last year.

Coats said Reinert has paid almost $9 million of $23 million owed to National City in the past year.

Max & Erma’s listed debts of $1 million to $10 million in its court filing and assets between $1 million and $10 million in the bankruptcy filing.

Its five largest unsecured claims are from:

Share on TwitterShare via email
Filed Under: Bankruptcy

Obama Lifts US Travel Ban on HIV-infected; Updated AIDS Bill Puts New Focus on Testing

October 31, 2009 By

Today lauded President Barack Obama for lifting a 22 year-old ban prohibiting HIV-positive foreigners from traveling to the US. The US was one of only twelve countries with such a travel ban. Obama announced repeal of the ban after signing the legislation renewing the Ryan White CARE Act, the federal law that authorizes the primary source of funding for AIDS care and services nationwide. The updated CARE Act, which Obama signed earlier today in Washington with the mother of Ryan White in attendance, places a newfound emphasis on testing, calling for five million HIV tests to be done annually.

Share on TwitterShare via email
Filed Under: Immigration

Information Regarding Registration as a Castelano Class Member

October 28, 2009 By

October 26, 2009Washington, DC

On August 14, 2009, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas approved the Settlement Agreement in Castelano, et al. v. Clinton, et al. This settlement may affect individuals whose births were registered by a midwife or birth attendant in Texas and who applied for a U.S. passport in the United States between April 8, 2003 and August 14, 2009, and did not receive a passport. The Agreement requires the Department of State to provide Class Members an opportunity to reapply under new procedures without paying the passport application fee. During November 2009, the Department will be accepting fee-free applications at special Castelano Class Member passport acceptance events in Brownsville, Harlingen, Eagle Pass, McAllen, Laredo, El Paso and Del Rio. The verification process and specific information regarding these special Castelano Class Member passport acceptance events can be found at www.travel.state.gov/passport.Class Members must be verified and receive a verification letter before filing a fee-free application at one of the special passport acceptance events. Fee-free applications will not be accepted unless they are accompanied by a letter from the Department of State confirming formal verification of class membership. To be identified as a class member, potential class members will need to provide their full name, date of birth, place of birth, current address, last four numbers of their social security number, approximate date of their application, and their mother’s full name to the State Department. There are two ways to submit this information: electronically by going to www.travel.state.gov/passport or in writing by mailing the information to: U.S. State Department/Charleston Passport Center, 1269 Holland Street, Building 643, Charleston, South Carolina 29405-2604If possible, mail registrations should include a copy of the letter from the passport agency advising that the earlier application was filed without further action or closed. The verification process can take up to four weeks, so verification requests should be submitted well ahead of the special Castelano Class member passport acceptance event.

Share on TwitterShare via email
Filed Under: Citizenship

USCIS REVISES FORM I-601

October 22, 2009 By

USCIS has revised Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility (Revision Date 04/06/09 N, OMB Expiration Date 04/30/11) to make it easier for applicants to complete. Applicants may now select from a list of grounds of inadmissibility on the form itself and mark all which apply to them in order to request a waiver. In addition to the list, the form includes a section where applicants can describe, in their own words, why they believe they are inadmissible. In the previous edition of Form I-601, information about grounds of inadmissibility could only be found of the form’s instructions.
The new Form I-601 and its filing instructions, including instructions on where to file and applicable fees, can be found on our website at www.uscis.gov. In accordance with 8 CFR 103.7(c)(5), USCIS may waive the filing fee in an individual case based on the individual’s inability to pay, only if the individual filing the a Form I-601 is:
• An alien who in valid T or U nonimmigrant status;
• An approved VAWA self-petitioner; or
• An alien, seeking adjustment of status, to whom section 212(a)(4) of the Act does not apply, so that the alien is not required to prove that he or she is not likely to become a public charge.
Guidance on how to request a fee waiver can be found on our website at www.uscis.gov/feewaiver.
USCIS will continue to accept the previous version of the form, dated 10/30/08 Y, through November 20, 2009. Beginning November 21, 2009 USCIS will only accept the revised Form I-601, dated 04/06/09 N, and will reject all requests using previous editions of the form.

Share on TwitterShare via email
Filed Under: Deportation & Removal, Family based Immigration, Green Card

URGENT DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR NON-MINISTER RELIGIOUS WORKERS

October 20, 2009 By

Congress has temporarily extended the nonminister immigrant visa category, but only until October 31, 2009. Pub. L. 111-68 (Oct. 1, 2009). Therefore, nonminister religious workers can presently file, or have adjudicated, their I-485 applications for permanent resident, but only for the next two weeks. Congress will consider a further extension, but when, or if that happens is uncertain.
1. Consider filing for adjustment by October 30, 2009, if you did not already do so: Because of the impending cutoff date, this means that the I-485 application for non-ministers must be filed and received at the relevant CIS Service Center, not later than Friday, October 30, 2009. If you are a nonminister, or represent a nonminister, who remains otherwise eligible to adjust status under INA 245, but did not file in September when no visas were available due to the sunset of the category, you should consider submitting the adjustment of status application now. Note that pursuant to Ruiz-Diaz, an I-360 and I-485 can be filed concurrently. You must still meet the other eligibility requirements relating to qualifications, available job at a qualifying religious organization, and without having in excess of 180 days of unlawful presence/employment.

Filing the application for adjustment of status should cut off any unlawful presence /unauthorized employment that is accruing or will begin to accrue against the applicant after expiration of R-1 status. If you do not accomplish this for a nonminister whose R-1 runs out while a further extension by Congress is in limbo, your client could run past the 180 day grace period of INA 245k and be ineligible to adjust. Please refer to CIS instructions in the June 25, 2009 Neufeld memo regarding filing locations and how to mark the envelope for submission, at http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/Ruiz- Diaz_Implementation_25jun09.pdf. Obviously, you will want to file the application at the correct office to avoid rejection.

2. SEEK EXPEDITES OF PENDING NONMINISTER I-485 APPLICATIONS: Likewise, if your nonminister religious worker I-485 is pending adjudication, you should promptly request an expedited decision so the approval issues on or before October 30, 2009. We are presently trying to confirm the best procedure to obtain such an expedite and will post this as soon as possible. If the application is not approved by October 30, adjudication cannot occur until Congress again extends the program.

Share on TwitterShare via email
Filed Under: Green Card
« Older Posts