The company's stock, which is traded over-the-counter, closed at 6 cents Monday, well off the $5.61 it traded at a year ago and a sharp drop from the more than $20 it traded for just a few years ago.

Chesapeake, which makes paper cartons and plastic containers for the health care, beverage and food markets, has been cutting jobs and realigning operations in an effort to foster growth and reduce costs. The company struggled earlier this year to complete a $250 million credit line with a group led by GE Commercial Finance Ltd. and General Electric Capital Corp. to refinance prior debt.

The company's shares were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in October. Chesapeake last month reported a loss for the nine months ended Sept. 28 of $277.1 million as the company booked hefty environmental cleanup and other charges and as sales slipped to $752.5 million due to lost business with British American Tobacco and less demand for drug and health care packaging. In its 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chesapeake listed total assets of $936.6 million as of Sept. 28 and $937.1 million in total liabilities.

Chesapeake filed for bankruptcy Monday in the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond under Chapter 11, which allows a company to reorganize. Non-U.S. units are not included in the filing.

The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of the families in Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking to overturn Act 1, which was approved by voters in last month's general election.

"Act 1 violates the state's legal duty to place the best interest of children above all else," said Marie-Bernarde Miller, a Little Rock attorney in the lawsuit.

The group filed the lawsuit on behalf of 29 adults and children from more than a dozen families, including a grandmother who lives with her same-sex partner of nine years and is the only relative able and willing to adopt her grandchild, who is now in Arkansas state care.

The plaintiffs also include Stephanie Huffman and Wendy Rickman, a lesbian couple raising two sons together who want to adopt a foster child from the state.

The most dramatic pullback in consumer spending in decades could transform the retail landscape, as thousands of stores and whole malls close down. And analysts expect prolonged woes in the industry as the dramatic changes in shopping behavior could linger for another two or three years amid worries about the deteriorating economy and rising layoffs.

"You are going to see a substantial retrenchment in the retail industry," said Rick Chesley, partner in the global bankruptcy and restructuring group at international law firm Paul Hastings. "The downturn has been catastrophic."

A number of stores couldn't even make it to Christmas. Circuit City Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection last month. It plans to keep operating, but toy seller KB Toys, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, is liquidating its stores and will shut down.

Julian said the man glared before "maliciously expelling a large amount of saliva" onto a carpet in the courthouse hallway. Earlier in the day, the judge found Malone guilty of failing to obey a stop sign in September. He was ordered to pay a $75 fine.

Malone said he is innocent of the traffic violation and suggested the judge should show mercy because it was Christmas Eve. Julian told Malone there was no excuse for his behavior. Malone was released from jail on Friday.

Lawyers ended a testy public negotiation session convened by the secretary of state's office without agreement on which ballots to open or how many should be under consideration.

That leaves the heavy lifting to a series of regional meetings that begin Tuesday. The ballots that make the cut at those meetings will be opened in St. Paul by Monday.

Those ballots are important because Franken leads Coleman by just 47 votes after the manual review of more than 2.9 million ballots.

The absentee ballots in question were incorrectly rejected by poll judges on or before Election Day, mostly because of clerical errors outside the four legal reasons for rejection.

The state board overseeing the recount ordered that the ballots be counted, and the state Supreme Court agreed — although justices added a few wrinkles. A majority ruled that either campaign can keep any ballot out of the mix with a written objection, leaving spurned voters the option of going to court to reinstate their ballot.

Local officials identified some 1,350 rejected ballots they now say should count, but Coleman's campaign suggested there are an additional 650 that should be added.

A judge is scheduled Jan. 9 to sentence 31-year-old Charles McArthur Emmanuel, also known as Chuckie Taylor.

Emmanuel was convicted in October of committing torture and other abuses as head of a paramilitary force in his father's government. It was the first use of a 1994 U.S. law allowing prosecution for torture overseas.

Prosecutors say the lengthy sentence would send a worldwide message against torture. Emmanuel's court-appointed lawyer didn't immediately comment Monday.

Charles Taylor is on trial before a United Nations tribunal for alleged war crimes in Sierra Leone.

The tainted formula gave babies painful kidney stones and news of the problem sent parents around the country rushing their babies to emergency rooms for tests to see if they were affected. Chinese dairy exports such as chocolate and yogurt were also found to be tainted, triggering a slew of product recalls elsewhere in Asia and in Europe, Africa and Latin America.

At least four of the suspects on trial Monday could be given the death penalty.

Hearings were held in the northern city of Shijiazhuang, where the company at the heart of the scandal — Sanlu Group Co. — is headquartered, along with three other cities in surrounding Hebei province, according to state broadcaster CCTV and the Xinhua News Agency.

The first trials in the case began for six men on Friday.

All 15 on trial have been charged with producing and selling melamine. The industrial chemical was added to raw milk because — like protein — it is high in nitrogen and can make protein levels appear higher.

Sanlu's chairwoman and general manager, Tian Wenhua, is scheduled to go before a Shijiazhuang court Wednesday.