Latest Alabama Headlines
All the headlines from our Alabama Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Ida Damages New $16M Fishing Pier on Alabama Coast
Nov 12 2009 // Alabama’s new state fishing pier, near Gulf Shores, which cost $16 million and is less than four months old, has been closed indefinitely because of damage from the first tropical storm to hit since it opened. The...
Tropical Storm Ida Pounds Gulf States with High Winds, Heavy Rains
Nov 10 2009 // A weakening Tropical Storm Ida lashed the U.S. Gulf Coast with drenching rain and high surf Tuesday as it moved ashore after shutting down almost 30 percent of Gulf of Mexico energy production. Ida, once a Category 2...
Alabama Attorney’s Suit Against Scruggs Assigned to Judge in Texas
Oct 28 2009 // A federal judge in Texas has been assigned to preside over an Alabama attorney’s lawsuit that alleges imprisoned attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs and several others conspired to defraud him of millions...
Alabama Supreme Court Throws Out $274M in Verdicts Against Drug Makers
Oct 19 2009 // The Alabama Supreme Court last Friday threw out jury decisions awarding the state more than $274 million from three pharmaceutical companies, ruling they did not defraud the state in pricing Medicaid prescription...
Economic Outlook for Coastal Mississippi, Alabama Brightens
Oct 8 2009 // The economic outlook should brighten in 2010-2011 for the Mississippi and Alabama coasts, but that’s not the case for the New Orleans area, an economist said this week at a regional economic forum. Lack of business...
It Was No Katrina But Some in Coastal America Remember Ivan’s Terror
Sep 17 2009 // People who lived through Hurricane Ivan can’t forget the haunting images left by one of the strongest storms ever recorded: condo towers collapsed in roiling surf, splintered homes or flat slabs, fragments of...
Homeowners Insurance Rates Going Up in Alabama
Sep 14 2009 // Insurance rates are going up for many Alabama homeowners. Officials with three of the four companies that insure the most homes in Alabama say that they are raising rates. The company that sells the most homeowners...
Alabama Uncertain If Small Business Tax Break Is Boosting Health Insurance
Sep 8 2009 // Craig Bacheler is able to offer the employees at his small Alabama IT firm health benefits because of a new state law, but some who helped push for the law say it is too early to measure its benefits. Small companies,...
Declarations
Sep 7 2009 // Coastal Caution “This is not a simple issue. It’s an issue that you’ve got to address with great caution.” —Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney telling an Alabama House of...
Tropical Storm Claudette Hits Florida, Seen Fading
Aug 17 2009 // Tropical Storm Claudette, the third of the Atlantic hurricane season, moved ashore along the U.S. Gulf coast early Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Claudette formed early Sunday morning. The storm hit the...
Mississippi Commissioner Offers Alabama Advice on Coastal Insurance
Aug 14 2009 // The keys to holding down insurance premiums on the Alabama coast are strong enforcement of building codes, proper land use and mitigating homes against future disasters, Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney told...
Alabama Insurance Agency Fined for Employees’ Sales of Bogus Policies
Jul 20 2009 // A Gulf Shores insurance agency must pay a $36,000 fine and adopt multiple accounting controls within 18 months after selling bogus homeowners policies to at least 118 customers. A government hearing officer ruled that if...
Alabama Bond Producer Forced to Liquidate
Jul 16 2009 // An Alabama bankruptcy judge has ordered a Lillian man to sell assets to repay debts to nearly 100 creditors across the country. Morris C. Sears, 63, had run ABBA Bonding from his home since 2001 despite being told twice by...
Alabama Adopts New Producer Licensing Exams
Jul 1 2009 // The Alabama Department of Insurance has begun using new insurance producer examinations, according to Commissioner Jim Ridling said New outlines to be followed in the examinations have been placed on the department’s...
Lawyer Says Alabama Agent Trying to Clean Up Ex-Employees’ Fraud
Jun 24 2009 // The lawyer for a Gulf Shores insurance agent has asked state officials to grant her a probation period to allow her to make repayments to customers victimized by fraud. Richard Lively said that revoking the license of...
HealthSouth CEO Scrushy Ordered to Pay Shareholders $2.9 Billion
Jun 22 2009 // An Alabama state judge has ordered former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy to pay nearly $2.9 billion to shareholders who sued over a massive accounting fraud that nearly sent the rehabilitation chain into...
Some Alabama Pool Rates to Rise July 1
Jun 15 2009 // Rates for some coastal property owners insured through the residual market insurance organization known as the Alabama Beach Pool are going up July 1. The overall average hike will be 5.5 percent, according to the Alabama...
Former Alabama Workers’ Comp Executive Goff Sentenced to 12 Years
Jun 15 2009 // A former Montgomery, Alabama insurance executive has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for mail fraud and embezzlement in his insurance business. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson imposed the sentence on John...
Alabama Sees Drop in Copper Thefts
Jun 10 2009 // A downturn in the commodity markets has slowed the number of thefts in the Montgomery, Alabama area. Police in Elmore and Autuaga counties say when scrap copper was selling for $3.50 a pound, they constantly responded to...
Former Alabama Insurance Executive Goff Sentenced to 12 Years
Jun 4 2009 // A former Montgomery, Alabama insurance executive has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for mail fraud and embezzlement in his insurance business. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson imposed the sentence on John...
