Latest Louisiana Headlines
All the headlines from our Louisiana Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Merrill Lynch Sued Over Costly New Orleans Stadium Bond Issue
Jan 30 2009 // The Louisiana Superdome authority in New Orleans has filed suit against Merrill Lynch over a $238 million stadium bond issue that exploded in interest costs after the market for government securities dried up last...
Louisiana Only State to Add Nonfarm Jobs in December 2008
Jan 29 2009 // Louisiana was the only state in the country with an increase in nonfarm jobs from November to December 2008, the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) announced. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Louisiana...
Judge Says Louisiana Insurance Department Can Keep Operating
Jan 28 2009 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon won a small victory in state court Jan. 27 in a dispute with the state Legislature’s auditing office. Although he did not rule on the primary issue in the case, 19th...
Lawmakers May Intervene in La. Insurance Department Audit Dispute
Jan 26 2009 // An ongoing dispute between the Louisiana’s legislative auditor and insurance commissioner is marring Louisiana’s ability to certify its year-end financial statements. Lawmakers on the joint House and Senate...
Louisiana Ranks Highly in Highway Safety Report
Jan 25 2009 // A report recently released by the Washington, D.C.-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety included Louisiana in list of 15 states to have made progress in enacting key highway safety laws. Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas...
They’re Baaaaack!
Jan 25 2009 // The lawmakers are back, at least in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Louisiana has to wait until April for the pleasure. For now, though, bars and restaurants in Little Rock, Oklahoma City and Austin will rejoice in the...
It Figures
Jan 25 2009 // 7% Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. board has approved a 7 percent increase in statewide average homeowners rates. The company initially wanted a 14 percent increase, but the insurance department rejected that...
Agents Speak Out on ‘Putting Back the Pieces’ After Brooke
Jan 25 2009 // Brooke Group Declares Bankruptcy, Faces Rico Charges, More Lawsuits Technically, Brooke Franchise owes me $7 million, but who knows if I will ever see it,” said Roger Cunningham, former Brooke franchisee and agent/...
Hale Awarded Scholarship from Louisiana Workers’ Comp Insurer
Jan 23 2009 // The Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation (LWCC) announced that Kevin Paul Hale of Baton Rouge, La., has been selected as the 2008 recipient of the Stephen W. Cavanaugh Scholarship. LWCC established the Stephen...
State Audit Raises Questions About Louisiana Road Home Data
Jan 22 2009 // Errors in the loading of tax data resulted in a need to re-examine the eligibility of more than 12,500 Road Home applicants, according to a state legislative auditor’s report that also raised other questions about...
Louisiana Agent Who Pocketed Premiums Gains Fine, Loses License
Jan 22 2009 // A Gretna, La., insurance agent has been issued a cease and desist order, notice of license revocation and fine for misappropriation of premiums and felony theft, the Louisiana Department of Insurance reported. Nancy Marie...
Boudreaux Appointed to Head Louisiana Insurance Fraud Unit
Jan 16 2009 // Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon has named Paul Boudreaux Jr. as the new director of the Insurance Fraud Section at the Louisiana Department of Insurance. Boudreaux replaces Trent Beach who recently took the...
Louisiana State Police Say Roads Safer Due to Increased Enforcement
Jan 15 2009 // Increased enforcement on the state’s roadways by Louisiana State Police troopers has led to a decrease in the number of fatal crashes, injury crashes, and even minor property damage crashes, the LSP says. State...
Work on Hurricane Protection System in Louisiana Begins
Jan 15 2009 // Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that the state and parish are breaking ground on a three-mile, $6.9 million stretch of the Morganza to-the-Gulf Hurricane Protection System in Chauvin. This project is designed to...
La. Ranks High For Safe Driving Laws, Other S.C. States, not so Much
Jan 14 2009 // A new report finds Louisiana is among 15 states to have made progress in enacting key highway safety laws. Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas did not fare so well. The 55-page study was done by Advocates for Highway and Auto...
Waiver Granted for Mobile Homes in Louisiana’s Cameron Parish
Jan 12 2009 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced it would allow mobile homes for hurricane victims in areas that new maps indicate are at risk of future flooding in Cameron Parish. But the occupants must be out of the...
Insurance Price-Fixing Lawsuit Dismissed in Louisiana
Jan 11 2009 // A federal judge in New Orleans in late December 2008 dismissed an antitrust lawsuit Louisiana’s former attorney general filed against some of the nation’s largest insurance companies after hurricanes Katrina...
Business Moves
Jan 11 2009 // Editor’s Note: For a comprehensive report of mergers and acquisitions for 2008, see Special Report: Agency Mergers in 2008 in the Dec. 22, 2008, edition of Insurance Journal. Brown & Brown, Insurance 1,...
Louisiana Commissioner: 7 Percent Hike Appropriate for Citizens
Jan 8 2009 // Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says plans by the state’s so-called “property insurer of last resort” to raise rates by an average of 7 percent in April are appropriate. The much-amended rate increase...
Louisiana Homeowners to Get Cash From Insurance Incentive Fund
Jan 7 2009 // Louisiana homeowners could receive cash from the unused portion of an expired pot of government money used to lure insurance companies to the state, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said. Donelon estimated the checks...
