Latest California Headlines

All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Alcohol Tastings In Big-Box, Grocery Stores in Southern California City

Dec 9 2011 // There will soon be a booze-sipping grotto for grocery and big-box store shoppers in a Southern California city. The Corona City Council voted 3-2 on Wednesday to allow free instructional alcohol tastings in the retail...

California Utility Says Power Back For All Customers

Dec 9 2011 // Southern California Edison says it has restored power to all customers who were blacked out by last week’s ferocious windstorm. Spokesman Scott Andresen says the lights went back on for the last few customers at 6:21...

SIAA Adds Master Agency to the California Marketplace

Dec 8 2011 // Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance Inc. (SIAA), a national alliance of over 3,900 independent insurance agencies, announced that master agency partner CoVerica Agency Alliance, formerly SIG Agency Alliance, has expanded...

Festa Named Vice Chair of California Insurance Guarantee Association Board

Dec 7 2011 // Stephen V. Festa, senior vice president and chief claims officer for Employers Insurance Company has been named vice chair to the board of governors of the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA), a body that...

Risk Management Agency Starts Olive Program in 12 California Counties

Dec 7 2011 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency on Wednesday announced a new pilot insurance program for table and oil olives in 12 California counties beginning with the 2012 crop year. The sales closing...

More Strong Winds May Cause Damage In Southern California on Tuesday

Dec 6 2011 // The National Weather Service is issuing a continued strongwind advisory for Southern California though the afternoon on Tuesday, with winds coming from the northeast at 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. The winds were...

Computer with Info on 4 Million Patients Stolen in California

Dec 5 2011 // A Northern California physician’s network says a computer stolen last month contains personal information on more than 4 million patients dating back to 1995. The Sacramento Bee reports the database includes the...

California Man Electrocuted by Fallen Power Line

Dec 5 2011 // A Southern California man has been electrocuted by a power line that fell on him outside his home. According to reports 24-year-old Joel Ramirez was inside his Whittier home when the line fell, possibly because of the...

Southern California Food Importer to Pay $400K in Discrimination Case

Dec 5 2011 // A Southern California Asian food importer has agreed to pay $400,000 in back wages and interest to 71 women who were rejected for sales jobs. The U.S. Labor Department says that Tokyo-based Nishimoto Trading Co. has agreed...

Business Moves

Dec 5 2011 // Everest Everest Re Group Ltd. is expanding its professional liability insurance operation, Everest Specialty Unit (ESU), with the opening of a west coast regional office. Currently based in New York, ESU will be...

Leading By Creating

Dec 5 2011 // Top 100 Agency Profile Agency Name: Confie Seguros, trading under Freeway Insurance Headquarters: New York, N.Y. Year Founded: 2008 Additional Locations: California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Texas, New York, New...

California’s State Fund Declares $50 Million in Dividends for Policyholders

Dec 5 2011 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund recently announced plans to disburse a $50 million dividend to qualifying policyholders in the form of a premium credit amounting to roughly 5.2 percent of estimated...

Strong Winds Downed Trees and Power Lines in West

Dec 2 2011 // Some of the worst winds in years blasted through California this week, with the brunt off the gusts felt overnight on Wednedsday, sweeping through canyons, gusting up to 97 mph, and toppling trees and trucks while knocking...

Wholesaler Adds Market for Nonstandard Auto in California

Dec 1 2011 // WIAA Insurance Services has added Unitrin Specialty to its roster of carriers. This provides the wholesale agency’s subproducers a new market for nonstandard auto in California. This is a direct appointment. Unitrin...

$6M Awarded for West Coast Quake Early Warning Research

Nov 30 2011 // Scientists studying earthquake early warning in the United States have received a financial boost. A foundation this week awarded $6 million in seed money to the University of California, Berkeley, California Institute of...

Study: Use of Physician Networks in California Workers’ Comp at Record High

Nov 29 2011 // A California Workers’ Compensation Institute study released on Tuesday shows the use of network physicians to provide medical care to injured workers in California has continued to grow over the past five years and...

CRC Names Brooks Broker in Southern California Office

Nov 29 2011 // CRC Insurance Services named Robert Brooks as a property and casualty broker in the company’s Santa Ana, Calif. office. Brooks was previously a broker at RPS/Lemac. Before that worked in various underwriting...

Insurers Boost California’s Economy by $34.7 Billion

Nov 29 2011 // California’s a $1.9 trillion economy gets a multi-billion dollar boost from the property/casualty insurance industry, according to a report from the Insurance Information Institute issued Tuesday. In 2009, insurers...

Whistleblower Laws, Lucrative for Some States, Stall in Others

Nov 28 2011 // For many states, a law intended to root out corruption also has been good for the bottom line. Over the last decade, more than 20 states have passed a version of the federal anti-corruption law known as the False Claims...

Poms Hires Director of Risk Services in Southern California

Nov 22 2011 // Dennis Healy has joined Poms & Associates Insurance Brokers Inc.’s Woodland Hills office as assistant director of Risk Services. Healy has more than 20 years’ experience in risk management, most recently as...