Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Calif. Commissioner Jones Gets ‘D’ From Insurance Industry
Mar 22 2012 // The insurance industry has mixed feelings about California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, assessing him as average or below average in a handful of categories. In a poll conducted by Insurance Journal, industry...
COIN Board Named
Mar 22 2012 // Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on Thursday announced his appointments to the California Organized Investment Network Advisory Board. COIN guides insurer capital into what the network feels is socially responsible,...
Jury Awards Northern California Woman $22M in Medical Suit
Mar 22 2012 // A jury has awarded a Menlo Park woman $22 million in damages in her medical malpractice lawsuit against the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Forty-eight-year-old Robyn Frankel was paralyzed from her neck down after undergoing...
Willis North America Adds to Personal Lines in Northern California
Mar 22 2012 // Willis North America, a unit of Willis Group Holdings, named Max Gilman regional operations officer in Willis Personal Lines Practice in San Francisco, Calif. Willis provides employee benefit and risk management solutions...
Long Joins Champion in Southern California
Mar 20 2012 // Del Mar, Calif.-based Champion Risk & Insurance Services, L.P. an affiliate of Wood, Gutmann & Bogart Insurance Brokers, named Elizabeth Long as an employee benefits consultant. Long started her career in the...
Poms Acquires Stone, Harris & Stone in California
Mar 19 2012 // Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Poms & Associates Insurance Brokers Inc. acquired Stone, Harris & Stone, a division of Brown and Brown. Stone, Harris & Stone has provided commercial and personal insurance services...
Fire Captain in California Convicted Of DUI Made Alcohol in Jail
Mar 19 2012 // A former Long Beach, California fire captain convicted of drunk driving has been sentenced to four years in state prison for violating his probation terms by making alcohol in jail. John Hines was ordered to serve the...
First Big Piece Of West’s ‘Electric Highway’ Gets Juice
Mar 19 2012 // Following a trail blazed by Indians and pioneers in covered wagons, electric car drivers hit the road Friday to inaugurate the first major section of a West Coast “Electric Highway” dotted with stations where...
Judge in California Oks Honda Mileage Settlement
Mar 19 2012 // A judge approved a settlement Friday to give owners of Honda Civic hybrids up to $200 each over claims that the fuel economy of the cars was inflated, casting aside arguments that a motorist’s victory in small claims...
People
Mar 19 2012 // Edgewood Partners Insurance Center, a retail property, casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage, named Hilton Brown to oversee client claims and advocacy in the company’s California offices in Los Angeles...
Lawyer Claims Highest Known Workers’ Comp Settlement in California History
Mar 19 2012 // Attorney Christopher Asvar believes he has secured the highest known workers’ compensation insurance settlement in California history, totaling $8.9 million on behalf of a Antonio Enriquez, who suffered a traumatic...
Study: California Cell Phone Restrictions Reduce Deaths
Mar 19 2012 // A study from the University of California, Berkeley says a nearly 4-year-old ban on drivers using hand-held cellphones is saving lives. The study finds that overall traffic deaths dropped 22 percent in that time while...
Investigative Unit to Target California’s Serial Labor Law Violators
Mar 19 2012 // California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su’s aim is to send a message to the state’s underground economy. The message is that the principals of companies with shady employment practices, such as those who try to...
Auto Insurance Discount Initiative May be Gaining Bipartisan Endorsement
Mar 16 2012 // The backers of an automobile insurance persistency initiative are making steps to gain bi-partisan support for their proposition, which is slated for California’s Nov. 6 ballot and a possible showdown with what would...
California Workers’ Comp Premium Grows But Claim Severity Continues to Rise
Mar 15 2012 // An annual report from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California shows that for the second consecutive year statewide workers’ compensation premiums levels rose in 2011, but that...
Vicarious Liability Ruling May Impact Education Insureds in California
Mar 14 2012 // The California Supreme Court ruled that a public school district may be vicariously liable for the negligent hiring, retention and supervision of a guidance counselor who allegedly sexually abused a student. And that...
Northern California Strongwood’s Humes Retires
Mar 14 2012 // Brent Humes has retired from his position as executive vice president of Monterey, Calif.-based Strongwood Insurance Holdings Corp. Humes served with Strongwood for 10 years. Prior to joining Strongwood, Humes spent more...
Suit: NASA Specialist in Southern California Axed Over Intelligent Design
Mar 14 2012 // A former computer specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is going to court over allegations that he was wrongfully terminated because of his belief in intelligent design. Opening statements in the lawsuit by...
Chief: California Wildfires May Signal Busy Season
Mar 14 2012 // Forest fire authorities say a series of a dozen small wildfires over the past two months may herald an active fire season this summer on the California coast. Anthony Escobar, Los Padres National Forest fire chief, said...
Confie Seguros Acquires Power Auto in California
Mar 13 2012 // New York, N.Y.-based Confie Seguros, a national provider of personal lines insurance focused on Hispanic consumers, acquired Power Auto Insurance, a privately-owned Cerritos, Calif.-based firm specializing in auto...
