Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Corrosion Linked To 2011 Chevron Refinery Fire in California
Oct 16 2012 // Corrosion that went unchecked – the suspected cause of a fire at Chevron Corp.’s Richmond, Calif. refinery in August – has been linked to a fire at the plant in October 2011, the San Francisco Chronicle is...
Southern California Worker Dies in Tuna Plant Oven
Oct 15 2012 // A worker died in an oven on Thursday at a Southern California plant that produces Bumble Bee tuna. Jose Melena, 62, was cooked to death in a steam oven at the Bumble Bee Foods processing plant in Santa Fe Springs, Calif....
Fireman’s Fund Names Bethune VP in Northern California
Oct 15 2012 // Novato, Calif.-based Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. named Travis Bethune vice president of distribution management and services leader. Bethune will provide strategic and operational direction for the distribution and...
Vice Mayor of California Town, an Insurance Broker, Convicted of Embezzlement
Oct 15 2012 // The vice mayor of a small Contra Costa County, California, city faces an uncertain future after he was found guilty of felony embezzlement of insurance premiums. Clayton Vice Mayor Joe Medrano is also an insurance broker...
Wrongful Death Claim In U.S. Border Patrol Shooting In Southern California
Oct 14 2012 // The family of a 32-year-old mother of five shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent as he rode on her car’s hood in suburban San Diego has filed a wrongful death claim against the agency, saying the agent had a...
State Fund Chief Holds High Expectations for Calif. Workers’ Comp
Oct 14 2012 // If all goes well, workers’ compensation reform in California may yield even greater savings than originally believed. That is according to State Fund President and CEO Tom Rowe, who gave the keynote speech on Friday...
Calif. Plant Recalls Its Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Oct 12 2012 // Clemmy’s Ice Cream is voluntarily recalling all of its Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip because the peanut butter in it might contain salmonella. The pints involved have the UPC symbol 8 94509 00231 9 and expiration...
Autistic Teen Sues Southern California School District
Oct 11 2012 // An autistic teenager who was dragged from class and handcuffed has sued the Irvine Unified School District in Southern California. The Orange County Register says the federal suit claims excessive force was used on Adam...
Moody’s Targets Calif. Cities For Downgrades
Oct 11 2012 // One of the nation’s top credit rating agencies will review dozens of California cities for possible credit downgrades amid mounting concern over municipal bankruptcies and bond defaults. Moody’s Investors...
Leavitt Group Names Sindle Adviser in Northern California
Oct 10 2012 // The Leavitt Group’s Sacramento, Calif. office named Chris Sindle as an adviser in the professional liability program. Sindle will provide risk management solutions for law firms, including malpractice audits,...
Sullivancurtismonroe Adds Mitchell In Southern California
Oct 10 2012 // SullivanCurtisMonroe Insurance Services LLC named Randall Mitchell as a property-casualty consultant in its Irvine, Calif. office. Mitchell will focus on building out the firm’s real estate and food divisions. He has...
Calif. Settles with Funeral Co. Over End-Of-Life Policies
Oct 10 2012 // California officials have reached a $25 million settlement with a company that sells end-of-life policies through funeral planners, state Controller John Chiang announced. The settlement with Forethought Group Inc., a...
Northern California-based Broker Group to Meet in Shanghai
Oct 9 2012 // The Worldwide Broker Network, a group headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., will hold an owners conference in Shanghai, China on Oct. 17 through Oct. 20 12. The event is expected to draw a gathering of roughly 150 owners and...
Southern California Educator Arrested For Workers’ Comp Fraud
Oct 9 2012 // A teaching assistant in Southern California has been arrested on several felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud. Gerard Padilla, 45, an employee of the Los Angeles County Office of Education, has been arrested...
California’s Prop. 33 Latest Battle Between Adversaries Joseph, Rosenfield
Oct 8 2012 // Billionaire insurance executive George Joseph has been fighting with consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield for two decades over California’s landmark automobile insurance law. This November, the two are squaring off...
Court Grants Injunction in Aon, Alliant Employee Poaching Case
Oct 8 2012 // A New York court on Sept. 20 granted a new injunction in the ongoing legal fight between Aon and Alliant Insurance Services over alleged poaching of senior executives. The Supreme Court of the State of New York enjoined...
People – West
Oct 8 2012 // U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc. named Tim Troester vice president and branch manager for the newly formed Portland, Ore., branch of U.S. Risk Brokers Inc. Troester’s focus at U.S. Risk will be to develop relationships...
Studies: More Than 2 M California Homes Exposed To Wildfires; Hundreds of Thousands in West at ‘Very High Risk’
Oct 8 2012 // More than 2 million homes in California face “extreme wildfire hazards,” over 400,000 of which are in Los Angeles County, according to a study from an insurance industry group. A separate study shows at least...
Calif. Workers’ Comp Reform Law at ‘Halftime’
Oct 8 2012 // Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles to look at California’s workers’ compensation reform law in detail and what must be done to implement that law by Jan. 1, 2013. More articles in...
Business Moves – West
Oct 8 2012 // InsureZone, MSI Fort Worth, Texas-based InsureZone announced it has acquired Denver-based MSI Group, with agencies in 20 states. The purchase adds 63 agencies to InsureZone’s network/cluster program. MSI Group...
