A federal judge has approved Affiliated Media Inc's bankruptcy reorganization plan, clearing the way for the publisher of the Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News to emerge from Chapter 11 protection this month.

Judge Kevin Carey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, at a Thursday hearing approved the plan, which he called "fair, equitable and reasonable," and warranted by "exceptional and unique circumstances."

Affiliated Media is holding company for MediaNews Group, which it said is the second-largest U.S. newspaper publisher by circulation, owning 54 daily newspapers and more than 100 non-daily newspapers.

The company has said all but one of its newspapers were profitable, but a restructuring was needed because of the slump in advertising, which generates about 80 percent of its revenue. It has said the current environment could not sustain what it called "yesterday's balance sheet."

Penton Business Media Holdings Inc, a publisher of 113 trade magazines such as Ward's AutoWorld, Restaurant Hospitality and National Hog Farmer, won court approval of its reorganization plan, and expects to emerge from bankruptcy within a few days.

Judge Arthur Gonzalez confirmed the New York-based company's Chapter 11 plan on Friday in Manhattan bankruptcy court.

The plan will eliminate more than $270 million of debt, with second lien holders recovering 15 cents on the dollar. Penton will get as much as $51.2 million of new equity from its owners, court records show. Management and the board of directors will remain intact.

Penton filed for a "pre-packaged" reorganization with the support of its lenders on Feb. 10, after the privately held company struggled with falling advertising sales as many readers shifted to digital media from print.

Many publishing rivals have faced similar pressures. Penton has said revenue fell 7.5 percent in 2008 and an estimated 26.2 percent in 2009.

The company is owned by private equity firm MidOcean Partners and by an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co, the buyout firm once controlled by the late Wall Street dealmaker Bruce Wasserstein.

Melbourne Federal Court Judge Christopher Jessup's decision opens the door for claims from 600 other litigants in a lawsuit against U.S. pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co. over its since-recalled drug Vioxx. The painkiller was taken off the global market in 2004 after research showed it raised the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Graeme Peterson, 59, of Melbourne, sued Merck and its Australian subsidiary, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, arguing the painkiller caused him to have a heart attack in 2003, leaving him unable to work.

The judge found that Merck Sharpe & Dohme failed in its duty of care by not warning Peterson's doctor about the drug's potential cardiovascular risk, and by its sales representatives emphasizing the drug's safety.

New York insurance law firm Anderson Kill & Olick, has named Larry Kill as chair of its Corpor ate & Commercial Litigation practice.

Kill has represented clients in a wide range of complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on antitrust counseling and litigation, class action treble damage cases, trademark litigation and corporate person of interest criminal investigations.

Kill, a name shareholder who joined the firm in 1972, returns to the firm after a two-year hiatus at Reed Smith, where he has been a partner in the Antitrust and Competition practice.

Shane Kettner cried as he entered the pleas Wednesday in Portage County Circuit Court to three counts of first-degree intentional homicide and endangering safety.

Investigators found the bodies of 30-year-old Christine Gollon, 3-year-old Ashley Kettner and 2-year-old Griffin Kettner on April 30 after breaking into the family's barricaded home in Nelsonville. Gollon's mother had called police worried about her daughter's welfare.

Kettner was found with his infant daughter, Esther. Authorities say gasoline had been poured around the house and Kettner had written a suicide note.

The 36-year-old Kettner initially pleaded not guilty, then changed his plea to not guilty by reason of mental disease.

Ali Hariri, a former executive at Atheros Communications, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy and securities fraud in what federal prosecutors call the largest hedge fund inside trading case in history. It is one in a series of guilty pleas through which prosecutors are trying to draw a net around Raj Rajaratnam, founder and operator of the Galleon Hedge Fund.

Hariri admitted he tipped off a co-conspirator to Atheros' earnings report. The co-conspirator then bought more than half a million shares of Atheros before the public announcement sent the share price up by 6 percent. The co-conspirator made hundreds of thousands of dollars from the trades.

Hariri, 38, of San Francisco, faces a maximum of 25 years in prison at his June 10 sentencing.

A California Marine accused of using Craigslist to arrange the rape of an ex-girlfriend in Wyoming has pleaded not guilty to five felonies.

Jebidiah James Stipe of Twentynine Palms, Calif., entered his plea in Wyoming's Natrona County District Court on Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Stipe posted an ad on Craigslist pretending to be a Casper woman and asking for someone to help play out a "rape fantasy." Prosecutors say a Bar Nunn man, Ty Oliver McDowell, replied to the posting.

McDowell is accused of raping the woman inside her home on Dec. 11. He has pleaded not guilty to five felonies.

A U.S. Marine Corps spokesman says Stipe was being discharged from the military "as a result of a pattern of misconduct" at the time of his arrest.