Texas / South Central News

Texas-Based Supermarket Faces $1 Million in Fines over Unsafe Working Conditions

Despite a history of violations and worker injuries dating back almost a decade, Fiesta Mart LLC – a Houston-based supermarket operator – continues to fail in its legal obligations to protect employees. Made apparent after federal inspections in February and …

Public Adjuster Firm Accused of Pocketing $600K in Insurer Payouts in 2 States

The Texas Department of Insurance says a public adjusting firm that was sanctioned last month by Louisiana regulators has pocketed more than $300,000 in insurer payouts intended for Texas property owners. TDI is asking the Texas State Office of Administrative …

Grass Fire Torches as Many as 20 Dallas-Area Homes

DALLAS (AP) — A grass fire apparently sparked by a mower swept about 300 yards across a tinder-dry open field to a suburban Dallas subdivision Monday, burning through wooden fences and torching homes, officials said. The blaze in Balch Springs …

North Texas Wildfire Continues to Grow amid High Heat

A North Texas wildfire continued to grow Tuesday amid sweltering temperatures and dry conditions after burning at least a dozen structures, officials said. The Chalk Mountain Fire about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Fort Worth was the largest active …

Louisiana Bailout Fund to Borrow $600M to Pay Insurer Claims

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A state-chartered bailout fund is seeking to borrow $600 million after seven Louisiana insurers went bust following 2021’s Hurricane Ida. The New Orleans Advocate, owned by the Times Picayune, reports that the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association …

Canadian Owner OKs $84M in Work, $1.5M Fine; Louisiana Plant

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The company that owns a closed fertilizer plant in Louisiana has agreed to clean up more than a billion pounds of hazardous waste and to pay a $1.5 million fine, federal and state agencies said Thursday. …

Freeport LNG Blast Created 450-Feet-High Fireball, Report Shows

The explosion that shut the Freeport LNG natural gas export facility in Texas last month created a 450-feet-high fireball and happened on a section that had been inspected several weeks earlier, according to a report. A filing that was briefly …

FBI Opens Sweeping Probe of Clergy Sex Abuse in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across …

Texas Proposes Rules to Ready Natgas Industry for Weather Emergencies

The Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees the state’s oil and natural gas industries, approved a proposed weatherization rule to help protect Texans during emergencies that could occur any time of the year. The proposed rule is the latest in a …

Nursing Home Owner Whose Residents Suffered in Ida Arrested

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The owner of seven Louisiana nursing homes who sent more than 800 of his elderly residents to a crowded, ill-equipped warehouse to ride out Hurricane Ida last year was arrested Wednesday on fraud and cruelty charges …

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