Latest Louisiana Headlines

All the headlines from our Louisiana Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Louisiana’s Centauri National Insurance Earns Demotech ‘A’ Rating

Jul 24 2017 // Louisiana-based Centauri National Insurance Co. has earned a Financial Stability Rating (FSR) of A, Exceptional, from Demotech Inc. This level of FSR is assigned to insurers who possess exceptional financial stability...

Louisiana Plans Multiple Storm Mitigation Projects

Jul 24 2017 // Louisiana will spend nearly $277 million in federal cash it received after last year’s floods to fortify communities against future disasters, mainly through drainage improvements and buyouts of flood-prone...

FBI Tracked Nearly 300K Cyberattacks in U.S. in 2016

Jul 24 2017 // The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) last year tracked nearly 300,000 cyberattacks in the United States and those attacks resulted in more than $1.6 billion in total losses. But apparently those numbers...

Milliman: Florida, Louisiana and Texas Would Benefit from Private Flood Insurance

Jul 24 2017 // The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) expires on Sept. 30 and Congress is currently considering legislation to reauthorize and reform the government-backed program through which the majority of U.S. property owners...

People – South Central

Jul 24 2017 // Austin-based Watkins Insurance Group, one of the largest full-service, locally owned independent insurance agencies in central Texas, has added Chris Scott as vice president of Finance. Scott brings to Watkins Insurance...

Morris Reappointed to Louisiana Workers’ Comp Advisory Council

Jul 21 2017 // Michael D. Morris of Baton Rouge has been reappointed to the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council. Morris is an attorney and the chief executive officer of the Louisiana Home Builders’ Association....

Louisiana Regulators Recover $4M for Insurance Policyholders

Jul 21 2017 // Insurance policyholders collected an additional $4 million in the first half of the year as a result of assistance provided by the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI). These funds are a result of staff from the LDI...

Feds Fine Exxon $165K over Explosion, Worker Injuries Louisiana Oil Refinery

Jul 13 2017 // ExxonMobil Corp. has been fined about $165,000 by U.S. regulators for safety lapses including inadequate training and equipment maintenance over an explosion that injured four workers at an aging Baton Rouge, Louisiana,...

Feds Sue Louisiana Candle Maker for Retaliation

Jul 12 2017 // Amy’s Country Candles L.L.C., a Harvey, La.-based manufacturer and purveyor of scented candles, violated federal law by firing an employee for complaining about sexual harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment...

Louisiana Workers’ Comp Corp. Declares $90M Policyholder Dividend for 2016

Jul 11 2017 // Louisiana workers’ compensation insurance provider, LWCC, announced a 2016 dividend of $90.6 million. The amount was distributed to over 20,000 policyholders in April 2017. This is the 14th consecutive year LWCC has...

Louisiana Farmers Could be Helped by $10M Program for Flood Recovery

Jul 10 2017 // Farmers and ranchers in 51 Louisiana parishes could be eligible for grants from a $10 million program aimed to help with recovery from last year’s flooding. Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain’s office says...

People

Jul 10 2017 // Kansas City-based insurance broker Lockton has named Jeff Henningsen as president of its Houston property/casualty insurance operation. Henningsen will take on an expanded leadership role in business development for the...

Zimmerman Named to Louisiana Workers’ Comp Advisory Council

Jun 30 2017 // Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has appointed Marc L. Zimmermann, Ph.D., of Prairieville, to the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council. Zimmermann is a psychologist in private practice and will serve as a...

Federal Aid Now Available to Rain-Swamped Louisiana Farmers

Jun 27 2017 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) designated Evangeline Parish in Louisiana as a primary natural disaster area as the result of losses and damages caused by heavy and excessive rain that occurred from April 4,...

Tropical Storm Cindy Bears Down on Gulf Coast

Jun 22 2017 // Tropical Storm Cindy churned slowly on Wednesday across the Gulf of Mexico toward an expected landing on the Texas-Louisiana border, after claiming the life of a vacationing child and threatening to bring flash floods from...

Tropical Storm Cindy Heads Toward Texas/Louisiana Border

Jun 21 2017 // The National Hurricane Center reports that a tropical storm warning is in effect from San Luis Pass Texas to the mouth of the Mississippi River as Tropical Storm Cindy moves closer to the central Gulf Coast. The storm...

Louisiana Employment Picture Improves with Large Job Gains

Jun 20 2017 // Seasonally adjusted data for the month of May shows that total nonfarm employment gained 10,500 jobs over the month in Louisiana for a new figure of 1,983,200, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC). This is...

Fake Arkansas Insurance Broker Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

Jun 19 2017 // An Arkansas man who pretended to be an insurance broker and collected more than $1 million selling fake policies in three states has been sentenced to more than five years in prison, the Arkansas Insurance Department...

Louisiana Tightens Rules to Prevent ‘Doctor Shopping’ for Opioid Drugs

Jun 19 2017 // Louisiana lawmakers have ordered physicians to consult a statewide prescription monitoring program before prescribing opioid drugs. The Senate approved minor changes the House had made to Sen. Fred Mills’ bill and...

Bills Meant to Curb Opioid Abuse in Louisiana Signed by Governor

Jun 14 2017 // Obtaining prescriptions for highly addictive opioid drugs in Louisiana will soon be more difficult under bills signed into law on June 12 by Gov. John Bel Edwards, who is hoping to turn the state into a leader in battling...