Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas County Reaches $775K Deal in Taser Case
Aug 28 2014 // Bastrop County in Texas has settled a federal lawsuit for $775,000 with the family of a high school student who suffered a brain injury after a deputy shot him with a Taser. The attorney representing Noe Niño de Rivera...
Officials: Texas Man Deliberately Ruined $1M Bugatti Car
Aug 28 2014 // Federal authorities say an East Texas man has admitted to deliberately driving his $1 million car into Gulf waters so that he could collect insurance on the vehicle. Authorities announced that 39-year-old Andy Lee House of...
Texas Considers Tougher Rules on Disoposal Wells
Aug 27 2014 // As scientists investigate whether injection wells where the booming oil and gas industry disposes of wastewater cause earthquakes, the Texas agency that oversees oil and gas is proposing a regulatory overhaul. The Texas...
Semitrailer Wrecks in Texas Panhandle Caused by High Winds
Aug 26 2014 // Texas authorities say strong winds in the Texas Panhandle have caused the rollovers of two highway semitrailers. A Department of Public Safety spokesman tells the Amarillo Globe-News that two people were injured in a wreck...
Design Flaws Found on Bridges on $1.4B North Texas Toll Road
Aug 26 2014 // Officials in North Texas will have to repair faulty bridge beams on the new $1.4 billion Chisholm Trail Parkway after an inspection found design flaws. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the North Texas Tollway...
Brownsville, Texas Ranks Second Among Safe Driving Cities
Aug 26 2014 // Allstate Insurance Co.’s 10th annual “Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report” ranks Brownsville, Texas, second safest among America’s 200 largest cities in terms of car collision...
VanDelinder Retiring from Texas Independent Agent Association
Aug 25 2014 // The board of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas announced that IIAT Executive Director/President David VanDelinder is retiring from the association effective Dec. 31, 2014. Regarding VanDelinder’s retirement,...
VanDelinder Honored with Distinguished Service Award from State Auto
Aug 22 2014 // David VanDelinder, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT), has been presented with State Auto Insurance Co.’s Distinguished Service Award. The presentation by State Auto CEO Bob...
Despite Murder Charge, Texas Woman Gets Insurance Payout
Aug 21 2014 // A judge has awarded the payout of trucking magnate Bill Hall Jr.’s life insurance policy to Hall’s widow, who’s charged with murdering her husband. Bexar County Probate Judge Tom Rickhoff has ordered that...
U.S. Attorney: Texas Man Guilty in Auto Insurance Fraud Case
Aug 20 2014 // A 42-year-old Nederland, Texas, man has pleaded guilty to federal violations related to fraudulent insurance claims in the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced. Antonio Govea Figueroa pleaded...
Texas Woman Pleads Guilty to Crash Staging Scheme
Aug 20 2014 // A 32-year-old Port Arthur, Texas, woman has pleaded guilty in a case involving staged auto crashes and fraudulent insurance claims, according to U.S. Attorney John M. Bales for the Eastern District of Texas. Shawnta Rene...
Miller Joins Governmental Affairs Team at IIAT
Aug 19 2014 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) announced that Amanda Miller of New Braunfels has joined the association as governmental affairs manager and PAC coordinator. Miller has participated in a number of...
Prevention, Improved Response Stressed in West Explosion Report
Aug 19 2014 // Improvements in the response to large, complex fires was just one of the suggestions in a state fire marshal report on the fire and deadly explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, in the early evening of April 17,...
‘Three-Strikes’ Law Proposed for Nursing Homes in Texas
Aug 18 2014 // Texas nursing homes that thrice commit egregious oversight offenses could be shuttered under a plan proposed by state lawmakers. The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission recommended the crackdown at its recent meeting in...
Fees, Plus Commissions, Allowed for Retail Insurance Agents in Texas
Aug 18 2014 // Retail insurance agents in Texas are allowed to charge certain fees in addition to a commission in relation to selling an insurance policy, but those fees must be disclosed to the customer. “Texas is one of the few...
Texas Bill Would Delay New Rules on Storing Hazardous Chemicals
Aug 18 2014 // The massive fertilizer plant explosion that killed 15 people last year is unlikely to meaningfully change regulatory or safety rules in Texas until at least 2016 under a bill proposed by lawmakers tasked with scrutinizing...
People – South Central
Aug 18 2014 // Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) expanded its national sales force by hiring Bill Miller as executive vice president – sales. He is based in Grapevine, Texas. Prior to coming to BHTP, Miller was the senior...
Oil Boom Drawing Teachers Away from Texas School Districts
Aug 14 2014 // A Texas school district is scrambling to prepare for the upcoming school year after the Eagle Ford Shale oil boom led to staffing problems. The Alice Independent School District still has to fill 21 teaching positions...
Texas Plastics Plant Hit with $174K Fine for Safety and Health Violations
Aug 12 2014 // Plastic Systems LLC in El Paso, Texas, was cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 21 safety and health violations, including six repeat, for failing to develop...
Davis Named Assoc. Commissioner of Fraud Unit at Texas Insurance Dept.
Aug 11 2014 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) appointed Chris Davis as the new associate commissioner of TDI’s Fraud Unit. Davis is a licensed Texas attorney and peace officer. He was previously employed as a managing...
