INSURANCE NEWS
People Moves: JMBI Names Goldstein as President; VIAA Hires Pair of Commercial Marketers
JMB Insurance Agency Announces Goldstein’s Promotion to President JMB Insurance Agency, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, has named Kimberly Goldstein as the firm’s inaugural president for strategic growth, helping to manage day-to-day operations of the firm. Goldstein brings nearly three …
Prescribed Fires at National Forests Resume After Review
The U.S. Forest Service is resuming its practice of intentionally lighting fires to clear brush and small trees from forested areas nationwide after a three-month hiatus to review the risks of runaway wildfires under increasingly severe climate conditions, the agency …
Brown & Brown Acquires Assets of Illinois’ VistaNational
Brown & Brown of Illinois, Inc., a subsidiary of Brown & Brown, Inc., has acquired substantially all of the assets of Oak Brook, Illinois-based VistaNational. VistaNational was founded in 1996 by president and chief executive officer David N. Schwimmer, who …
Texas’ Scottish American Launches General Liability Program for Contractors
Scottish American, a wholesale insurance brokerage, managing general agency, and program manager based in Grapevine, Texas, announced that it has launched its new program, Contractors Guard, a general liability program designed exclusively for contractors with a focus on fast quoting …
Twitter Whistle-Blower Describes ‘Ticking Bomb’ of Security Gaps
Twitter Inc.’s security lapses were so grave that they threatened national security, the company’s former head of security-turned-whistle-blower told senators on Tuesday. Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Peiter Zatko, also known by his hacker name “Mudge,” said Twitter was …
Chili’s Locations in Texas, Arkansas Sued for Sexual Harassment of Teens
Two Chili’s Grill & Bar Restaurants in Arkansas and Texas subjected female employees, including teens, to sexually hostile work environments in violation of federal law, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in lawsuits filed in Little Rock and Dallas …
Southern California Evacuations Prompted by Rains and Mudslides
Thousands of residents were under evacuation and shelter-in-place orders early Tuesday after heavy rains unleashed mudslides in a mountain area east of Los Angeles that burned two years ago, sending boulders and other debris across roads. Firefighters went street by …
Lawsuit Alleges Child Marriage, Rape in Utah Sect
Women who were members of a Utah polygamous group said in a lawsuit that they were forced into underage marriages in which their husbands raped them and that they had to perform child labor in the group’s businesses. The northern …
Colorado River Nearing Crisis Point 100 Years After Compact
The intensifying crisis facing the Colorado River amounts to what is fundamentally a math problem. The 40 million people who depend on the river to fill up a glass of water at the dinner table or wash their clothes or …
Ports in Eastern China at Standstill as Typhoon Muifa Closes In
Authorities in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang ordered ships to return to port, told schools to close and evacuated tourists from nearby islands, as one of this year’s strongest typhoons is set to make landfall on Wednesday. Typhoon Muifa intensified …
People Moves: Son Assumes Cross Insurance President, CEO Roles From Father; Risk Strategies Adds Fulse, Trimarchi
Cross Insurance Names Jonathan Cross President and CEO Cross Insurance, one of the largest independent insurance providers in the Northeast, has named Jonathan Cross president and chief executive officer. The family-owned and operated insurance agency is headquartered in Bangor, Maine. …
Watchdog: Chemical Safety Agency Impeded by Staff Shortage
The federal agency that investigates chemical accidents is hindered by a lack of staffing, leadership disputes and a backlog of investigations that threaten its ability to protect people and the environment, according to a new report by a federal watchdog. …