Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hammer Sparks Led to California’s Mendocino Blaze
Jun 17 2019 // California fire officials say sparks from a hammer driving a metal stake into the ground ignited a 2018 blaze in Northern California that killed a firefighter and became the largest wildland fire in state history. The...
AM Best Downgrades Credit Ratings of California Casualty Group Members
Jun 14 2019 // AM Best has downgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) to “bbb” from “bbb+” and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) of The California Casualty Indemnity...
Arthur J. Gallagher Acquires Abram Interstate Insurance Services in California
Jun 14 2019 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Rocklin, Calif.-based Abram Interstate Insurance Services Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ron Abram and his associates will remain in their current location under the...
Travelers Beefing Up Wildfire Protection After 2018 California Blazes
Jun 14 2019 // Travelers Cos. is strengthening its wildfire-defense efforts after deadly blazes swept through California last year. The insurer is adding a service to all of its California home and landlord policies, helping customers...
Uber, Lyft Appeal for Deal on Driver Status as Independent Contractors
Jun 14 2019 // Faced with legislation in California that endangers their business model, Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. are urging a compromise that would keep their drivers from being considered employees. “We can make...
California Man with Brain Damage to Get $5.2M in Taser Lawsuit
Jun 13 2019 // Sacramento will pay $5.2 million to the family of a man who was repeatedly shocked by police Tasers and left with severe brain damage, according to a newspaper report. The City Council voted in a closed-door session to...
Jury Orders J&J, Colgate to Pay Almost $10 Million in Talc Case
Jun 13 2019 // Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive Co. must pay almost $10 million to a dying California woman who blamed the companies’ talc-based products for her rare cancer. The jury verdict in state court in Oakland is...
Former UCLA Gynecologist Pleads Not Guilty to Patient Sex Abuse
Jun 12 2019 // A retired gynecologist who worked at the University of California, Los Angeles for decades has pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing two patients during examinations and the campus is asking anyone who may have other...
Union General in California Adds Five to Expanding Team
Jun 12 2019 // Concord, Calif.-based Union General Insurance Services has added five people to its team. Included in that group are two managing directors: Scott Lane for Oregon and Nevada, and Ben Bailey for Southern California. Lane...
California Heat Stokes Fire Risk, Residents Asked to Curb Power Use
Jun 12 2019 // A second day of unrelenting heat is scorching California, sending temperatures to near record levels, raising risk of wildfires and prompting calls for energy conservation. Temperatures surged past 100 degrees Fahrenheit...
California Surplus Lines Stamping Fee Goes to 0.25% in 2020
Jun 11 2019 // The Surplus Line Association of California board has voted to adjust the stamping fee to 0.25%, effective Jan. 1, 2020, the group announced on Tuesday. The stamping fee has been set at 0.2% for seven years, the longest...
Hammer Sparks Led to California’s Mendocino Blaze
Jun 11 2019 // California fire officials say sparks from a hammer driving a metal stake into the ground ignited a 2018 blaze in Northern California that killed a firefighter and became the largest wildland fire in state history. The...
Some Claims of Medical Cannabis Lack Scientific Evidence
Jun 11 2019 // Marijuana has been shown to help ease pain and a few other health problems, yet two-thirds of U.S. states have decided pot should be legal to treat many other conditions with little scientific backing. At least 1.4 million...
Wells Fargo Settling California Car Loan Suit for $385M
Jun 10 2019 // Wells Fargo has agreed to pay at least $385 million to settle a California lawsuit alleging it signed up thousands of auto loan customers for costly car insurance without their consent, resulting in many having their...
PG&E in California Proactively Cuts Power Because of Weather
Jun 10 2019 // Pacific Gas & Electric implemented a controversial practice of cutting power to selected portions of Northern California on Saturday to guard against wildfires as the weather turned very windy, dry and hot. Electricity...
How the Workers’ Compensation Industry Is Embracing Telemedicine
Jun 10 2019 // The use of telemedicine may be in its nascent stages within the workers’ compensation system, but the starting line has definitely been crossed with employers and workers’ comp insurers embracing the ability to...
Former California Insurance Agent Charged With Multiple Felonies
Jun 6 2019 // Felony charges for grand theft and identity theft were filed against Alicia Calderon, 33, a former licensed insurance producer in California, after investigators reportedly discovered evidence that Calderon took money from...
Cavignac & Associates in California Names Camateros Account Administrator
Jun 6 2019 // San Diego, Calif.-based Cavignac & Associates has named Deane Camateros an account administrator within the agency’s employee benefits department. Camateros is charged with assisting the department’s...
Monarch E&S in California Names Morton Vice President
Jun 6 2019 // Burbank, Calif.-based Monarch E&S Insurance Services has named Phillip Morton vice president, commercial lines department manager. He was previously a senior underwriter/broker for the firm. Monarch is a division of...
Farmers in California Names Noh CFO of Farmers Insurance Exchanges
Jun 4 2019 // Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Farmers Insurance has named Thomas Noh chief financial officer of the Farmers Insurance Exchanges. He succeeds Ron Myhan, who retired after nearly 40 years with Farmers. Noh is a finance...
