A bill that would provide free prostate cancer screenings to at-risk individuals advanced through an Alabama Senate committee on Wednesday.

Senate Bill 19, sponsored by Senator Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, would require that insurance companies cover all costs of prostate cancer screenings for high-risk patients. The bill defines high-risk individuals as all men over 50, Black men and men under 40 who have a father, brother or son diagnosed with prostate cancer or a related cancer.

The bill represents a bipartisan push to reduce barriers to prostate cancer screening, with Representative Jeremy Gray, D-Opelika, carrying a House version of the legislation. Screenings covered by Livingston’s legislation include prostate-specific antigen blood tests and rectal examinations.

The 2025 version of Livingston’s legislation was passed by the Senate and approved by committees in both chambers during the 2025 legislative session.

SB19 was the sole bill on the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee’s agenda for its first hearing of the legislative session. The bill was advanced unanimously following a brief discussion from the committee.

“Mr. chairman, we certainly appreciate you calling this robust calendar today for this hearing,” Livingston said. “This is a prostate cancer bill that we handled last year that went downstairs to the House and got tied up at the end of the session.”

The bill clearing its committee prompted celebration from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, which has been a vocal supporter of Livingston and Gray’s legislation.

In a statement released following the vote, ACS CAN Alabama Government Relations Director Jane Adams expressed excitement that the bill will advance to the Senate floor, as well as her thanks to lawmakers who have supported the legislation.

“As we kick off the 2026 legislative session, we are excited to see lawmakers prioritize SB19, which will eliminate cost-sharing for lifesaving prostate cancer screenings for high-risk patients covered by state-regulated health insurance plans. If passed, this law would have a huge impact on prostate cancer early detection in Alabama,” Adams wrote.

“We know lawmakers have a lot of competing priorities in the legislative session, and we are grateful to them for seeing the benefit of increasing access to prostate cancer screenings for Alabamians,” she continued.

“Thank you to sponsors Sen. Steve Livingston and Rep. Jeremy Gray as well as House Speaker Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter and Sen. Garlan Gudger for their support in guiding this through the Senate and House,” Adams added.

In its 2025 breakdown of cancer statistics by state, ACS found that prostate cancer was the most common variety of cancer contracted in Alabama, and projected that 5,440 new patients would be diagnosed with the disease throughout the year.

The organization reported that prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths for men in the U.S., after lung cancer, and Black men and men with a family history of the disease carry a stronger risk of contraction.

However, bill sponsors and supporters such as ACS have highlighted that most men diagnosed with the disease survive with treatment, emphasizing the importance of early detection.

Alongside ACS CAN, Livingston and Gray’s legislation has been endorsed by prostate cancer screening and treatment nonprofit ZERO Prostate Cancer.

SB19 will now progress to a vote in the full Alabama Senate.

If your phone suddenly flipped to “SOS” in Alabama on Wednesday, you weren’t alone.

A widespread Verizon wireless outage disrupted calls, texts, and data for customers across the country, with Alabama included among states where users reported problems.

Outage reports began climbing around 11:00 a.m. Alabama time, with many customers saying their phones showed “SOS” or “no signal” messages.

On outage-tracking site Downdetector, reports surged into the hundreds of thousands at peak.

Verizon acknowledged an issue impacting wireless voice and data and said engineering teams were working to resolve it.

By mid-afternoon, at least some customers reported service returning, but Verizon said crews were still working on remaining disruptions.

What to do if you’re still stuck in “SOS”

• Turn on Wi-Fi calling (if it’s set up) and use Wi-Fi for calls/texts where possible.

• Try restarting your phone and toggling Airplane Mode on/off (simple, but sometimes forces a clean network handshake).

• If you need help urgently and calls won’t go through: use a landline, borrow a phone on another carrier, or go in person to a nearby police/fire station.

• If you have a newer iPhone and you’re in an area without any cell service, you may have satellite-based emergency options depending on device/support and conditions.

The FCC said it would investigate the incident.

JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) – All westbound lanes were blocked on Interstate 10 before Franklin Creek Road at the Alabama state line due to a crash, according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

The crash happened before 6 a.m. Wednesday and was cleared by 7:30 a.m., according to MDOT.

Early-morning drivers experienced delays and were forced to take alternate routes.

You can get real-time traffic updates HERE.

See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE.

Copyright 2026 WLOX. All rights reserved.