Spotlight on Jefferson County

Jefferson County in central Alabama is the state’s economic and cultural center. It is the largest county by population and home to the largest city — Birmingham — as well as the sixth-largest city, Hoover.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Plan on losing an arm? Move to Georgia

At the time of their accidents, Jeremy Lewis was 27, Josh Potter 25. The men lived within 75 miles of each other. Both were married with two children about the same age. Their injuries, suffered on the job at Southern industrial plants, were remarkably similar, too. Each man lost a portion of his left arm in a machinery accident. Lewis received just $45,000 in workers' compensation for the loss of his arm. Potter, who lives in Georgia, was awarded benefits that could surpass $740,000 over his lifetime. Lewis lives in Alabama, which has the nation's lowest workers' comp benefits for amputations. – Gizmado

Sue Bell Cobb writes of big money in high courts

“The money was important. In Alabama, you don’t get to mete out justice without spending millions of dollars. I had my money; my opponent had his. The race for dollars reached new heights when a poll showed that I had a real chance of winning despite being a Democrat and the underdog, leading my opponent and his supporters to significantly increase their fundraising. And I had to answer in the best way I could—by trying to raise more money—or risk falling woefully behind. The amounts are utterly obscene.” – Politico

State will get chance to defend RR fuel tax

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Alabama should have the chance to justify a fuel sales tax that it assesses on railroads but not on competitors in the trucking and barge industries. The justices ruled 7-2 against CSX Transportation Inc., which had challenged the state's assessment of a 4 percent sales tax whenever the company purchased diesel fuel. – ABC News

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