Latest Iowa Headlines
All the headlines from our Iowa Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Life Insurers Flock to ‘Easy’ Iowa As More Federal Oversight Looms
Mar 28 2014 // After Symetra Financial Corp. was formed in 2004, the life insurer set up shop in a 25-story glass tower outside Seattle, put its name on the building and pushed the state to adopt more favorable rules for its...
Iowa Court: Breastfeeding Employee Can’t Sue Nationwide Mutual Insurance
Mar 19 2014 // Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. did not discriminate against an employee who claims she was denied a room to pump breast milk and pressured to resign on her first day back from maternity leave, a federal appeals court in...
Repairs to Levees in Council Bluffs, Iowa Could Cost $50M
Mar 12 2014 // Repairs and improvements on Council Bluffs, Iowa’s river and creek levees could cost the city $50 million. The Daily Nonpareil says the estimate comes from a study on the work needed to repair river and creek levees...
Texas Company Stalls on Paying $6M Judgment in Iowa Disabled Workers Case
Mar 12 2014 // Federal and state officials are having trouble collecting the multimillion-dollar judgment a Texas company was ordered to pay for mistreating 32 mentally disabled workers at an Iowa labor camp. The Des Moines Register...
Iowa Council Facing Possible $50M Bill On Levees
Mar 11 2014 // Repairs and improvements on Council Bluffs river and creek levees in Iowa could cost the city $50 million. The Daily Nonpareil reported the estimate comes from a study on the work needed to repair river and creek levees to...
Only 2 Inspectors For Asbestos Projects in Iowa
Mar 7 2014 // Two inspectors are responsible for making sure thousands of asbestos-removal projects are being properly handled in Iowa each year. The Des Moines Register reported that the lack of inspections at asbestos removal projects...
Iowa Pharmacist Acquitted of Insurance Fraud Charges in Hemophilia Drug Case
Mar 6 2014 // Jurors acquitted an Iowa pharmacist of health care fraud, rejecting allegations that he fraudulently billed Iowa’s largest health insurance company for life-saving drugs sent to hemophilia patients. The federal jury...
Sioux City, Iowa Contemplates Insurance for Water Line Repairs
Mar 5 2014 // The City Council in Sioux City, Iowa, has discussed setting up an insurance fund to cover the costs of water service repairs. The Sioux City Journal says dozens of homeowners have had to pay hundreds or even thousands of...
Iowa Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty to Crafting Bogus Policies
Mar 5 2014 // An insurance agent in northeast Iowa accused of creating fake life insurance policies to make more money has pleaded guilty to mail fraud. U.S. Attorney Kevin W. Techau says in a press release that 46-year-old Melissa...
Only 2 Inspectors Monitor Asbestos-Removal Projects in Iowa
Mar 4 2014 // Two inspectors are responsible for making sure thousands of asbestos removal projects are being properly handled in Iowa each year. The Des Moines Register reports that the lack of inspections at asbestos removal projects...
Court to Hear Iowa Workers’ Comp Commissioner’s Defamation Lawsuit
Feb 26 2014 // The Iowa Supreme Court has set a date to hear arguments in a lawsuit filed by the state’s workers’ compensation commissioner against Gov. Terry Branstad. Justices say they’ll hear attorney arguments at 7...
Iowa Insurance Agent Charged with Creating Bogus Policies
Feb 26 2014 // A 46-year-old insurance agent in northeast Iowa has been accused of creating fake life insurance policies so she could make more in commissions. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier says Melissa Williams, of Dike, is charged...
Jury Awards Texas Woman $1.2M for Fall at Iowa Hotel
Feb 24 2014 // A Texas woman has been awarded more than $1 million for a fall on ice outside a Bettendorf, Iowa, hotel that shattered her right ankle and left her with limp. A Scott County jury awarded 54-year-old Brenda Alcala of Dallas...
People – Midwest
Feb 24 2014 // Merrill, Wis.-based Church Mutual Insurance Co., an insurer of religious organizations, named Bob Buckley as vice president – underwriting and policyholder services and Cheryl Kryshak as vice president – risk...
Stricter Texting While Driving Measure Advances in Iowa
Feb 20 2014 // Iowa lawmakers granted initial approval of a bill that would further crack down on texting while driving by allowing officers to pull over motorists suspected of that sole offense. A three-member Senate transportation...
Gilmore Named VP, Underwriting at Iowa Mutual
Feb 12 2014 // Iowa Mutual Insurance Co. has selected Amy Gilmore as vice president, underwriting. Gilmore most recently served as vice president and product manager of underwriting at another casualty company. She previously held...
Iowa Mutual Insurance Co. Names Puls as New President
Feb 11 2014 // Georgia Puls has been appointed as the new president of Iowa Mutual Insurance Co. Puls has 27 years of experience in the insurance industry, including 17 years at Iowa Mutual in the personal and commercial lines...
People – Midwest
Feb 10 2014 // The IMA Financial Group Inc., headquartered in Wichita, Kan., announced that Kyle Orndorff has returned to the company as senior vice president of human resources. Based in IMA’s Wichita office, Orndorff will oversee...
‘Storm’ or Not? Iowa Appeals Court Decides in Mall Lawsuit
Feb 7 2014 // The Iowa Court of Appeals on Feb. 5 weighed into the murky issue of how to define a storm in Iowa when it ruled that a Cedar Falls mall wasn’t at fault for a woman who fell in its parking lot as freezing rain fell in...
Walsh Named Deputy Workers’ Comp Commissioner in Iowa; Walleser, Rasey Retiring
Jan 29 2014 // Joseph L. Walsh has been hired as a deputy workers’ compensation commissioner with the Iowa Division of Workers’ Compensation. Walsh previously was in private practice as a workers’ compensation and...
