Bankruptcy-gate: From banks to stores to food banks.

Taro Properties Ariz. files for bankruptcy protection
A Scottsdale-based "land bank" has filed for bankruptcy protection in the midst of pending foreclosure action on hundreds of vacant lots it owns in Gilbert and Phoenix.

Taro Properties Arizona LLC and two affiliates, Taro Properties Nevada I and Taro Properties Texas I, filed for protection from creditors Wednesday under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Food Bank Bankrupt
A Madison County food bank has nothing to offer the needy due to tough times.
The Grace Now Food Bank is in need of a saving grace: donations.

The pantry, which has been serving food to the community every Monday for more than seven years, is temporarily shut down, due to high demand.
The Grace Now Food Bank Operations Manager Sherry Robinson made the decision to shut down last week.

She explains, "I didn't have the money in our account to buy the food I knew it would take", to serve the dozens of extra people that had been showing up in the past few weeks.

For years, the food bank was used to serving 20 to 30 people a week. But recently, 70 people showed up, the food ran out, and people had to be turned away.

Since that day, the Grace Now Food Bank has not been able to fully re-stock its shelves. Until it is, the food bank will remain closed.

Wachovia's BluePoint Insurance Unit Files Bankruptcy

Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Wachovia Corp.'s BluePoint Re Ltd. unit, which insures structured finance and municipal transactions, filed for bankruptcy protection, citing defaults on securitized mortgages.

BluePoint filed a petition in Manhattan yesterday, saying it has more than $100 million in debt. The insurer also filed a petition to liquidate in Bermuda, where it is based, on Aug. 7. BluePoint asked the New York court to recognize the Bermuda proceeding and protect it from claims in the U.S., invoking provisions of Chapter 15 of the federal bankruptcy code.

Wachovia, the fourth-biggest U.S. bank, reported a $330 million charge in the second half of 2007 related to BluePoint's losses on credit default swaps on collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs. BluePoint decided to liquidate after failing to negotiate a restructuring with banks including UBS AG that were counterparties to its swaps, according to court papers.

Finally, this information is from a watchdog group from a friend of mine. This was passed along to me a couple of weeks ago:

Store closings will climb this year
The International Council of Shopping Centers last week raised its estimates for the number of stores that will close this year to 144,000, up 7 percent from last year. That s the largest one-year increase in the 14 years the ICSC has tracked the figures. The forecast includes all store closings, including those by independent and privately held retailers that make up the majority of the U.S. store base. The impact could be felt deeply at strip malls and shopping centers. Already, U.S. retail properties posted a vacancy rate of 7.8 percent through the second quarter, according to market-research firm Reiss Inc. According to the U.S. census, there are 1.1 million retail establishments in the United States. But here s another fact to remember about the resilient U.S. economy. Every year, the number of new stores opened comes close to the number closed, even in tough economic times. For example, the ICSC reported that in 2006, 123,000 new stores opened and 139,000 closed.