Debt-crippled Pa. capital files for bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Pennsylvania's distressed capital city filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, citing "imminent jeopardy" from lawsuits related to a debt-saddled municipal incinerator and setting up a power struggle between the mayor and City Council.
The federal petition for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, being sought to help Harrisburg get out from under crushing debt, listed about $458 million in creditors and claims and six pending legal actions by creditors.
"The city does not have the ability to pay those money judgments or any significant portion thereof and still provide health and safety services to its citizens and other essential government services," wrote Mark D. Schwartz, an attorney hired by the City Council.
A spokesman for Mayor Linda Thompson, who has resisted calls for bankruptcy because of fears that it would further blemish the city's name, said the council lacks the legal authority to seek it.
"There are procedural matters the solicitor objects to, as far as how the resolution was handled, and the quote-unquote hiring of counsel," said mayoral spokesman Robert Philbin. "The solicitor also says only the mayor, in conjunction with the solicitor, can file for bankruptcy on behalf of the City of Harrisburg."
The filing was signed by Councilwoman Susan Wilson after a 4-3 vote late Tuesday by the council to authorize it.
At a news conference, Thompson said she was hiring a law firm to challenge the bankruptcy filing, which she called a "sneak attack" by council members.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.