Latest Louisiana Headlines

All the headlines from our Louisiana Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Audit: Louisiana Restaurant Inspections Don’t Ensure Food Safety

Nov 28 2012 // Louisiana’s regulators of food safety fail to ensure restaurants and other retail food establishments are complying with health standards and allow violators of safety requirements to continue operations, according...

Appeals Allow Louisiana Cardiologist Convicted of Fraud to Remain Free

Nov 28 2012 // A former Lafayette cardiologist is asking to remain free pending a request that the U.S. Supreme Court hear an appeal of his 2009 health-care fraud conviction and 10-year prison sentence. The Advocate reports Dr. Mehmood...

Louisiana’s October Jobless Rate Lowest in More Than 3 Years

Nov 27 2012 // Louisiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.6 percent in October, the lowest it has been since April 2009, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Louisiana’s unemployment rate improved...

In Louisiana, Private Insurers Come Marching in

Nov 21 2012 // Good news out of the Pelican State. While similar state-run insurance entities in Florida and Texas continue to grow at unsustainable paces, Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has managed to reduce its policy...

Louisiana Citizens Releases Nearly 7K Homeowners Policies

Nov 20 2012 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon announced that Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. (Citizens) has completed a sixth round of depopulation with 6,877 residential (personal lines) policies being...

Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. $56M in the Red

Nov 19 2012 // Louisiana’s state-run property insurer of last resort is $56 million in the red, after it covers claims for Hurricane Isaac and settles class-action lawsuits for improper handling of past storm claims. Steve...

Louisiana Bills Texas Brine $3.5M for Sinkhole

Nov 19 2012 // The state of Louisiana sent a $3.5 million bill to the Texas company it blames for a massive sinkhole that has swallowed more than five acres of land in Assumption Parish and contaminated an aquifer. Attorney General Buddy...

Post-Isaac FEMA Individual Aid Nears $116M in Louisiana

Nov 15 2012 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved nearly $116 million in individual aid for Louisiana homeowners and renters who experienced damage from Hurricane Isaac. Nearly 32,000 people have received housing...

Inspector General Report Critical of Louisiana State Fire Marshal

Nov 14 2012 // A state inspector general’s wide-ranging report on Louisiana Fire Marshal Butch Browning includes a finding that one of Browning’s inspectors failed to detect mechanical problems with a carnival ride in...

Louisiana Bills Texas Company $3.5M for Sinkhole Costs

Nov 12 2012 // The state of Louisiana sent a $3.5 million bill to the Texas company it blames for a massive sinkhole that has swallowed more than 5 acres of land in Assumption Parish and contaminated an aquifer. Attorney General Buddy...

Louisiana’s State-Run Property Insurer $56M in the Red

Nov 12 2012 // Louisiana’s state-run property insurer of last resort is $56 million in the red, after it covers claims for Hurricane Isaac and settles class-action lawsuits for improper handling of past storm claims. Steve...

Options Few for People Displaced by Huge Sinkhole in Louisiana

Nov 8 2012 // After three months living in a hotel while a sinkhole near his Louisiana home grows and grows, Carl Dugas has realized he won’t be moving back. When he left Aug. 3, he was willing return, though his wife was dubious...

Louisiana Citizens Considering Commercial Property Rate Increase

Nov 7 2012 // Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s board is expected to approve increasing its commercial coverage rates by an average of 45.1 percent statewide this week. Almost all of Citizens’ roughly 5,700...

Louisiana Governor Asking for Vote on Health Insurance Outsourcing Plan

Nov 7 2012 // Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration is returning to lawmakers this week to ask for approval to outsource a state employee health insurance plan. Jindal’s top budget adviser shelved a vote recently when it became...

Attorney’s Advice to Insurers on Reducing Class Action Exposure Post-Sandy

Nov 6 2012 // A veteran attorney who spent several years defending insurance companies in lawsuits from Hurricane Katrina is offering advice to insurers on class action and bad faith exposure post-Sandy. Insurers will be denying claims...

Insurance Commissioner: Auto Theft Declines in Louisiana

Nov 6 2012 // Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon reported that the number of vehicle thefts in Louisiana has declined nearly 42 percent over a five-year period from 2006 through 2011. The latest figures from the FBI Uniform...

Henderson Named Deputy Commissioner of Consumer Advocacy in Louisiana

Nov 5 2012 // Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon announced that Ron C. Henderson has been appointed Deputy Commissioner of Consumer Advocacy for the Louisiana Department of Insurance. As head of the Office of Consumer Advocacy,...

Vehicle Thefts Down in Louisiana

Nov 5 2012 // Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says Louisiana is “is actively engaged in the prevention of insurance fraud and vehicle theft.” According to the Louisiana Department of Insurance, the number of auto thefts...

Louisiana Employment, Wages Increased in 2011

Nov 5 2012 // Employment in Louisiana increased by a modest 0.8 percent in 2011 compared with 2010, but wages grew by 3 percent during the same period, according to data released by the Louisiana Workforce Commission. The data covers...

Louisiana Supreme Court Reduces Insurer Citizens’ Late Payment Penalty

Nov 5 2012 // The Louisiana Supreme Court has relieved the state’s property insurer of last resort of the burden of paying a $125,000 penalty for late payment of a claim settlement stemming from Hurricane Gustav in 2008. Instead,...