News on Alabama

U.S. Sales Tax Rates Hit Record High

2010-10-25T09:22:23Z

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Ala. governor counts on federal money for budgets

2010-06-25T18:56:52Z

Ala. gov no fan of 2nd federal stimulus bill, but he's counting on it to balance state budgets

Gov. Bob Riley is relying on Congress to pass a second federal stimulus bill that he doesn't support so Alabama can get more than $1 billion to balance the next state budgets and prevent major cuts in services.

The Republican governor presented budget proposals Wednesday...

Alabama Democrats propose $1B highway program

2010-10-13T14:46:54Z

Alabama Democrats propose spending $1B in state savings on highway, bridge construction

Democrats in the Alabama Senate will try again in the new year to invest $1 billion from a state savings account in a 10-year boom in road and bridge construction that would be nearly twice the size of the federal stimulus funding for...

Brief Michigan shutdown ends, interim budget OK'd

2010-04-16T10:03:11Z

Economically battered Mich. avoids long gov't shutdown, begins fiscal year with interim budget

One of the nation's most economically battered states is heading into more fiscal fights after surviving a short-lived government shutdown that ended with an interim budget and lingering uncertainty about more permanent spending cuts.

The interim budget avoided state worker layoffs and office closures. It also delayed...

Colonial BancGroup faces federal investigation

2010-04-16T10:56:39Z

Colonial BancGroup says feds conducting criminal investigation over accounting irregularities

Colonial BancGroup said Friday it is under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice over alleged accounting irregularities at its mortgage warehouse lending unit.

The company said the pro...

Agents search Florida office of Colonial BancGroup

2010-04-16T11:00:51Z

Federal agents search Florida bank branch of Colonial BancGroup

Federal agents entered the Orlando, Fla., branch of financially troubled Colonial BancGroup Inc. on Monday with a search warrant.

Few details were released about what the agents were searching for or ...

Church's cash handout part of `faith stimulus'

2010-04-16T11:58:41Z

'Faith stimulus': 1 congregation hands out $50,000, others offer health care, haircuts

On a recent Sunday, members of Bay Community Church each were given envelopes stuffed with cash. Inside was $20, $40 or $100, depending on luck of the draw.

No ordinary handout, the $50,000 gesture was billed as a "faith stimulus." Church members were told to spend it helping others, a novel approach to religious outreach during tough economic times.

Amid the worst r...

House approves $6.4 billion for green schools

2010-10-27T14:24:15Z

House approves $6.4 billion to make schools cleaner and healthier

The House on Thursday passed a multiyear school construction bill with the ambitious goals of producing hundreds of thousands of jobs, reducing energy consumption and creating healthier, cleaner environments for the nation's schoolchildren.

Opponents, almost all Republicans, objected to the cost associated with the 21st ...

Tax deadline brings out thousands of protesters

2010-06-12T09:07:16Z

Thousands of protesters, some dressed like Revolutionary War soldiers and most waving signs with anti-tax slogans, gathered around the nation Wednesday for a series of rallies modeled after the original Boston Tea Party.

They chose the income tax filing deadline to express their displeasure with government spending since President Barack Obama took office.

The protests were held everywhere from SC, Ala. governors OK $25 a week jobless benefit increase, likely to nix more for part-timers

The governor of South Carolina, a vocal opponent of federal bailouts in a state beset by one of the nation's highest jobless rates, has decided to take stimulus money to increase weekly unemployment checks by $25, officials said Monday.

While he is accepting mon...

Stimulus Plan Could Bailout Alabama Schools

2010-06-26T02:45:42Z

DOTHAN, Ala. - The economic stimulus package currently before the U.S. Senate could potentially bring nearly $1 billion to Alabama school districts over two years, money that could potentially balance out nearly $1 billion in projected state funding cuts.

According to a breakdown released by the How they voted: Senate roll call on financial bailout package

The 74-25 roll call by which the Senate approved a $700 billion rescue package for Wall Street aimed at preventing a credit crisis.

On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote to approve the package and a "no" vote was a vote against it.

Voting "yes" were 39 Democrats, 34...

All but one in Alabama delegation vote for bailout

2010-04-16T13:10:19Z

WASHINGTON – All but one of Alabama’s seven congressmen voted today for the economic bailout package.

Rep. Robert Aderholt, a Republican from Haleyville, was the sole congressman from Alabama to vote against the bailout, which failed to pass the House. Other members of Alabama’s congressional delegation said they ...

Shelby Will Have Leading Role in Bailout Proposal

2010-04-16T13:18:39Z

WASHINGTON – Alabama’s senior senator says speed should not be the primary focus for Congress as it considers a multi-billion dollar bailout of the nation’s financial system.

“In my judgment, it would be foolish to waste massive sums of taxpayer funds testing an idea that has been hastily crafted, and may actually cause the government to revert to an inadequate strategy of ad hoc bailouts,” Alabama forward Tony Mitchell shoots a layup against Toledo during an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Jan. 3, 2011, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Sherri Williams holds a medical checklist that shoppers must fill out at her store in Huntsville, Ala., Saturday, Dec.18, 2010. The "romance" store called Pleasures features what's billed as the nation's first drive-thru with adult novelties for sale. Business is brisk so far, with cars sometimes lining up three deep for ...

Pepperdine Alabama Basketball

2010-12-28T21:01:28Z

Alabama head coach Anthony Grant gives instructions to members of the Alabama basketball team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010 at Coleman Coliseum in

APTOPIX Winter Weather

2010-12-25T10:30:34Z

Eleven-year-old twins, Cameron and Danielle Whitlock, make a snowman in their front yard in Decatur, Ala. on an unusually snowy Christmas morning, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2010. After blanketing parts of the Midwest and hampering motorists there on Christmas Eve, the storm dipped south late Friday...

Winter Weather

2010-12-25T07:31:15Z