INSURANCE NEWS
People Moves: VIAA Hires Sherman as Book Management Coach
Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), headquartered in St. Louis, hired Carly Sherman as a book management coach. Sherman is focused on improving personal lines production profitability with strategic and regional partner carriers. Sherman previously worked as an agency manager with …
Texas Governor Criticizes CenterPoint Energy After Beryl Power Outages
The majority of Houston outages that followed Hurricane Beryl should be fixed by Wednesday, the city’s main utility company said as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to punish CenterPoint Energy even after the lights come back. The Texas Public Utility …
Deere Retreats From Diversity Measures After Online Attacks
Deere & Co., the world’s top farm machinery maker, is pulling back from diversity measures in the face of conservative criticism, the second agriculture-related company in less than a month to bend to such pressure. Deere said on the social …
Horticultural Grower Fined $172K Over Sexual Harassment at Texas Location
Altman Specialty Plants, LLC, the largest horticultural grower in the United States, will pay $172,000 in monetary relief and furnish extensive injunctive relief to resolve a finding of sex discrimination and retaliation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) …
Town in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley Divided Over a Planned Grain Terminal
WALLACE, La. (AP) — Sisters Jo and Dr. Joy Banner live just miles from where their ancestors were enslaved more than 200 years ago in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana. Their tidy Creole cottage cafe in the small riverfront …
Reckitt Sales to Be Hit by Tornado at Indiana Warehouse
Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc said sales will be affected by a tornado that struck a warehouse in Mount Vernon, Indiana, where it stores products and raw ingredients for its baby formula business. The consumer goods company said Wednesday that the …
Record Flooding and Tornadoes This In Iowa Caused $130M in Damage
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Record flooding and powerful tornadoes ravaged parts of Iowa for weeks this spring, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, closing roads and bridges and costing over $130 million in infrastructure damage, officials said Thursday. The …
Minnesota Workers’ Comp System Stable Despite COVID-19 Impact
Workers’ compensation claim rates and benefits paid in Minnesota continue to be stable or follow their long-term downward trajectories, a new Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) report shows. The 2024 Minnesota Workers’ Compensation System Report presents trend data regarding …
Blue Cross Won’t Appeal: Aetna Set to Run NC State Worker Health Benefits
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Aetna is poised to manage health coverage plan benefits for North Carolina state workers and teachers starting early next year because Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina said Monday it won’t appeal a judge’s …
High Condo Premiums a Top Issue in Hawaii Legislative Races
Jillian Anderson was planning to make fighting crime in Waikiki the top issue in her campaign for a seat in the Hawaii House of Representatives. Then came the letter from her condo association announcing a 300% increase in insurance premiums, …
Rebuilding After Hurricanes is Complex, Can Change Character of a Community
HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Before Hurricane Idalia smashed into a small fishing village in northwestern Florida, Charles Long, 68, was fixing up a two-bedroom house for him and his wife. After the August storm, he found remnants of it …
Russian Tactics Make Secret Tanker Oil Switching Harder to Trace
Two near-identical oil tankers trying to beat western sanctions. A secret transfer of Russian crude halfway between Iran and Oman. A supertanker giving a false location. Welcome to the modern trade in Russian petroleum as western sanctions get tougher. Earlier …