Latest Iowa Headlines
All the headlines from our Iowa Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Drought Brings Back Memories of 1988 Crop Losses
Jun 29 2012 // Just one year ago Jeff Scates saw the worst flooding on his southern Illinois farmland since 1937. Today, Scates is watching his corn fields shrivel from the driest season in 24 years. “We’ve gone from one...
Nebraska Construction Company Owner Sentenced for Wire, Insurance Fraud
Jun 26 2012 // A Fremont, Neb., man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for a wire fraud conviction that cost banks and insurance companies in Nebraska and Iowa millions of dollars. Thomas Herink was sentenced in...
Gerhart Appointed to Iowa Insurance Commissioner Post
Jun 18 2012 // Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has name an executive with a West Des Moines financial group as the state’s new insurance commissioner. Thirty-seven-year-old Nick Gerhart, of Des Moines, will replace Susan Voss, who is...
People – midwest
Jun 18 2012 // The board of directors of Iowa Mutual Insurance Co., in DeWitt, Iowa, has elected Drew Bright president. Bright is the 10th president of the company in its more than 100-year history. He succeeds Thomas R. Cole, who...
Experts Question Iowa City Landfill Fire Coverage
Jun 13 2012 // Iowa City’s insurance may not cover the damage done in the landfill fire that’s been burning since May 26. At least two insurance experts told The Gazette that the city could be on the hook for the estimated $4...
Iowa Landfill Blaze Produces Diesel-Like Byproduct
Jun 8 2012 // A days-long fire at the Iowa City Landfill has created a combustible substance that officials are sending to western Nebraska for incineration. The Iowa City Press-Citizen said that the pyrolytic oil is a byproduct of the...
Judge Orders Iowa Contractor to Repay Customers
Jun 7 2012 // A Polk County, Iowa, judge ordered a West Des Moines contracting company to reimburse dozens of customers more than $160,000, barred the company and its owners from future residential contracting business, and restricted...
Feet of Sand Leave Midwest Farms Wasteland After Flooding
Jun 5 2012 // Mason Hansen guns his pickup and cranks the steering wheel to spin through sand up to 4 feet high, but this is no day at the beach. Hanson once grew corn and soybeans in the sandy wasteland in western Iowa, and his...
The Cost of Duplicate Regulation
May 21 2012 // Multistate Regulation Hikes Commercial Insurers’ Expenses and Premiums by 26% Buyers of commercial liability insurance pay on average 26 percent more in insurer expenses if their insurance company has to comply with...
People – Midwest
May 21 2012 // Hastings, Mich.-based property/casualty insurance carrier Hastings Mutual Insurance Co., announced the retirement of CEO and President Bill Wallace. Wallace has served as CEO of Hastings Mutual for 14 years. He also served...
The Industry’s Role in Cutting Down Crooked Contractors
May 17 2012 // Approximately one year ago, on Sunday, May 22 at about 5:30 p.m., Joplin, Mo. was devastated by a massive EF 5 tornado that at times was one mile wide and traveled on the ground for more than 20 miles. This storm,...
County in Iowa Warns Residents of Records Breach
May 14 2012 // Some 3,000 Warren County, Iowa, residents have been notified that their personal information may have been scattered by the wind in the aftermath of a December fire at a human services office. Pat Penning, service area...
Cost of Liability Insurance Leads to Closing of Small Iowa Airport
May 14 2012 // The grass-strip McBride Airport has closed nearly 50 years after it was carved out of an eastern Iowa farm field. Ivan McBride told The Gazette it’s difficult to close the tiny airport in Marion that his late father...
Bright Elected President of Iowa Mutual Insurance
May 11 2012 // The board of directors of Iowa Mutual Insurance Co., in DeWitt, Iowa, has elected Drew Bright president. Bright is the 10th president of the company in its more than 100-year history. He succeeds Thomas R. Cole, who...
Duplicate Regulation Drives Up Commercial Premiums, Says Iowa Researcher
May 8 2012 // Buyers of commercial liability insurance pay as much as 31 percent more in insurer compliance costs if their insurance company has to comply with regulations from multiple states instead of just a single regulator,...
Iowa Company Fined Over Handling of Debris
May 7 2012 // A Bettendorf company has been fined $35,000 for burning demolition debris and failing to properly dispose of asbestos. The Iowa Attorney General’s Office says Rockingham-Lunex Co. and its owner, William Schmidt of...
Clipping the Wings of Fly-by-Night Contractors
May 7 2012 // Approximately one year ago, on Sunday, May 22, 2011, at about 5:30 p.m., Joplin, Mo., was devastated by a massive EF 5 tornado that at times was 1 mile wide and traveled on the ground for more than 20 miles. This storm,...
Iowa’s Fulwider Honored with Big ‘I’ Woodworth Memorial Award
Apr 27 2012 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers (the Big “I”) has awarded an Iowa agency owner, Bob Fulwider, with the Woodworth Memorial Award, the highest honor the association bestows on one of its...
Missouri Bill Criminalizes Undercover Videos at Farms
Apr 19 2012 // The Missouri House has endorsed legislation that would make it a crime for undercover activists to produce videos portraying poor conditions at livestock farms or other agricultural facilities. The legislation given...
Tornado Outbreak: Authorities Say 5 Dead in Oklahoma, 29 Injuries
Apr 16 2012 // Tornadoes raking communities across the Midwest and Plains left five people dead and at least 29 injured in Oklahoma, damaging a hospital, homes and other buildings as a vast severe weather front plunged eastward on April...
