Latest Illinois Headlines
All the headlines from our Illinois Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurance Journal’s Top 10 Midwest Region Stories of 2019
Jan 2 2020 // The expanding legalization of marijuana in Midwest states captured the attention of Insurance Journal readers last year. Illinois became the 11th state to legalize recreational cannabis when Gov. J.B. Pritzker in June 2019...
In Midwest, Legal Marijuana Sales May Spark Interstate Tension
Dec 31 2019 // Retailers legally selling marijuana for the past month in Michigan say they have drawn customers from surrounding Midwestern states where the drug remains illegal and, as Illinois prepares to joins the recreational market...
Puff, Puff, Passed: 2019 Marijuana Laws in Review and 2020 Projections
Dec 31 2019 // With 2019 nearly rolled up, it is time to exhale and recap the latest dose of marijuana laws affecting the workplace. In the last twelve months, Illinois became the eleventh state to legalize recreational marijuana use by...
J.M. Wilson Promotes Frawley to Sr. P/C Underwriter in Illinois
Dec 23 2019 // J.M. Wilson has promoted Tim Frawley to senior property/casualty underwriter in the company’s Arlington Heights, Illinois, office. He is responsible for quoting new and renewal accounts for a wide variety of...
U.S. Law Firms ‘Hounded’ Relatives of Ethiopian Airlines’ Crash Victims
Dec 23 2019 // Days after the March 10 crash of a Kenya-bound Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing jet that killed all 157 people on board, strangers began calling or visiting bereaved families, saying they represented U.S. law firms. They...
AM Best Downgrades Ratings of Governmental Interinsurance Exchange in Illinois
Dec 11 2019 // AM Best has downgraded the Financial Strength Rating to B++ (Good) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “bbb+” from “a-” of Governmental Interinsurance Exchange (GIE), in...
Credit Ratings of Illinois’ National Fire and Casualty Downgraded
Dec 10 2019 // AM Best has downgraded the Financial Strength Rating to B++ (Good) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “bbb+” from “a-” of National Fire and Casualty Co. (NFC), based in...
Reuters Special Report: Powder Keg- Regulators Bowed to Industry for Decades Over Talc Risks
Dec 3 2019 // At an invitation-only gathering late last year, U.S. regulators and their guests huddled at a hotel near Washington, D.C., to discuss the best way to detect cancer-causing asbestos in talc powders and cosmetics. The...
People & Places
Dec 2 2019 // National W. R. Berkley Corp. announced the appointment of Daniel R. Westcott as president of Berkley Re America (BRAM). Westcott has 20 years of experience in the property and casualty reinsurance market. He joins Berkley...
In Wake of North Dakota Spill, Congress Wants Review of Keystone Pipeline
Nov 21 2019 // Top U.S. House Democrats have called for a federal review of the Keystone pipeline and the agency that regulates it in the wake of 383,000-gallon (1.4-million-liter) spill in northeastern North Dakota, the latest of three...
FEMA Upholds Decision to Deny Individual Assistance After Illinois Flooding
Nov 18 2019 // A federal agency upheld its decision to deny financial assistance to Illinois residents and business owners affected by historic flooding despite granting the state public aid. The Federal Emergency Management...
Wirth Elected President of Illinois Independent Agents Group
Nov 14 2019 // Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois (IIA of IL) has elected Bill Wirth, of Wirth Agency in Waterloo, as president of the group for a term that runs until Sept. 30, 2020. As president, Wirth will serve as a member of...
Juul Labs and WeWork Being Sued Under Illinois Biometric Privacy Law
Nov 12 2019 // Juul Labs Inc. was sued for collecting biometric data from its online customers as a method of verifying they are legally old enough to buy vaping products. The company was accused in a complaint filed last Thursday in...
Mother of Brain-Damaged Boy Awarded $50M in Illinois Malpractice Suit
Nov 8 2019 // A jury awarded $101 million to the mother of a severely brain-damaged boy who sued a Chicago-area hospital for medical malpractice, but an agreement between the parties cut the amount to $50 million, a lawyer...
Horvath, McManamy Promoted at Illinois’ Employee Benefits Provider, Trustmark
Nov 8 2019 // Trustmark, a national employee benefits provider headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, has promoted Steve Horvath and Sean McManamy to new positions. McManamy, a corporate senior vice president and member of the...
Alliant Adds Merchant to Employee Benefits Team in Illinois
Nov 7 2019 // Employee benefits expert Shaan Merchant has joined Alliant Insurance Services in Bannockburn, Illinois, as first vice president. Merchant has experience designing and delivering employee benefits solutions that lower...
States Vary Widely in How They Control Workers’ Comp Medical Costs: WCRI
Nov 4 2019 // Workers’ compensation medical costs vary widely among the states both in terms of price and how often services are used. The differences appear to relate closely to which cost-drivers each state legislature tried to...
Company Fined Nearly $1.6M After 4 Workers Killed in Illinois Plant Explosion
Oct 30 2019 // Federal workplace safety officials have levied $1,591,176 in penalties against a silicon chemical products manufacturer after four employees suffered fatal injuries in an explosion and fire at the company’s Waukegan,...
McNeil & Co. Acquires Bonding & Insurance Specialists Agency in Illinois
Oct 24 2019 // McNeil & Co. (McNeil) as acquired Bonding & Insurance Specialists Agency Inc. (BISA), an Orland Park, Illinois-based firm providing insurance products in the environmental and restoration industries. As part of the...
States Vary Widely in How They Control Workers’ Comp Medical Costs: WCRI
Oct 21 2019 // Workers’ compensation medical costs vary widely among the states both in terms of price and how often services are used. The differences appear to relate closely to which cost-drivers each state legislature tried to...
