Judge sets deadline for Vick’s new plan

From combined dispatches

A judge who rejected Michael Vick’s first bankruptcy plan warned the suspended NFL star’s lawyers Tuesday that they have just one more chance to file a workable proposal for repaying the millions he owes to creditors.

As Vick sat silently in the front of the Norfolk courtroom, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro set a July 2 deadline for submission of a revised Chapter 11 plan. A hearing to confirm or reject the plan was set for Aug. 27.

Santoro said that if the new plan fails to address the shortcomings that prompted him to reject the first one in April, he will appoint an independent trustee to assume management of Vick’s finances.

“The feasibility of it the last go-round, as I ruled, left something to be desired,” Santoro said.

Santoro said he had major concerns about the first plan - how Vick will make enough money to pay his obligations and how he will come up with the more than $3 million to pay his lawyers within three years.

“Those are two pretty big holes,” Santoro said.

VIKINGS: Players Kevin Williams and Pat Williams are being improperly singled out by the NFL for extra steroids testing, their lawyer said.

Attorney Peter Ginsberg said he filed papers Monday in Hennepin County District Court asking Judge Gary Larson to say the NFL can’t treat the Williamses differently from other players while the long court battle over their suspensions continues.

Ginsberg said the two players are being tested three times a month, “if not more.” He said that exceeds the NFL’s testing policies.

FAVRE: Brett Favre’s family is ready for his return to Green Bay if he winds up playing for Minnesota.

Favre’s family and friends have booked 25 to 30 rooms at the Midway Motor Lodge near Lambeau Field for the weekend of the Nov. 1 Vikings game at Green Bay, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

The quarterback’s family and friends often stayed at the hotel during Favre’s final years with the Packers, Midway manager Doug Warpinski told the newspaper. Warpinski declined comment to the Associated Press.

BEARS: Former Chicago star Roland Harper has been placed on probation for two years for acting as a front man in a $1.5 million fraud involving a Chicago Public Schools landscaping contract.

A judge ordered Harper to spend the first year of his probation under house arrest.

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