Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
As America Overall Ages with Boomers, Energy States See Youth Boom
Jun 26 2014 // Seven states, including five in the Great Plains, saw their median age decline between 2012 and 2013, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. At the same time, the median age for the U.S. as a whole ticked up from 37.5...
262 People Hurt in Last Year’s Fertilizer Blast in West, Texas: Report
Jun 26 2014 // A health report on the impact of the West fertilizer plant explosion says 262 people were injured in the blast. That’s in addition to the 15 people killed by the April 17, 2013, explosion. The report was released...
Safety Is Paramount for Texas Mutual CEO Gergasko
Jun 25 2014 // Richard Gergasko Richard Gergasko, CEO of workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual Insurance Co., describes himself as an insurance geek. Trained as an actuary, he’s been involved in the insurance business...
Central Texas Derailment Caused Chemical Leak
Jun 24 2014 // Eight Union Pacific cars overturned in Central Texas and at least one tanker leaked a hazardous chemical used in natural gas processing. The Grimes County Sheriff’s Office says nobody was hurt in the June 23...
Texas Lumber Company Faces $125K in Fines for Safety Violations
Jun 20 2014 // Federal safety regulators have cited a Texas sawmill for failure-to-abate previous safety violations and continuing to expose workers still to serious hazards. More than $125,000in fines are proposed for Gillespie Lumber...
Texas Man Sentenced, Another Pleads Guilty in Machinery Theft Scheme
Jun 20 2014 // United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley in Louisiana announced that one Texas man has been sentenced and another has pleaded guilty in a scheme to steal tractors and other large equipment and sell the items in...
Texas Property/Casualty Symposium to Focus on Insurance Industry Changes
Jun 19 2014 // The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) will host its 22nd Annual Mid-Year Property & Casualty Symposium in Austin on July 17. Speakers include industry leaders from the Insurance Information Institute (III), the...
Top Loss Leaders in the Oil Patch? Commercial Auto, Workers’ Comp
Jun 18 2014 // There’s no doubt that new advancements in the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are driving the current production boom in the oil patch. The technique, which is used to retrieve oil and gas reservoirs...
Texas Cliff-Hanging House Set on Fire
Jun 17 2014 // Charred debris from a luxury cliff-side home in Texas fell 75 feet into a lake below after fire crews set the $700,000 retreat ablaze rather than wait for it to crumble into the water as the land faltered around it. It...
Insurance Capacity for Oil & Gas Is Plentiful but Contract Wording May Be Tricky
Jun 16 2014 // The insurance capacity is there to cover the risks associated with the current oil and gas boom in Texas and the nation, experts say, but agents and their customers should be vigilant in their efforts to understand the...
All in the Family: Father and Daughter Honored by Texas Agents
Jun 16 2014 // A father/daughter team of insurance professionals recently were awarded two of the highest honors bestowed upon independent agents in Texas at the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas annual conference and trade show in...
Tornado Confirmed in Central Texas
Jun 16 2014 // Severe weather late on June 12 spawned a Central Texas tornado that damaged several homes and floodwaters that washed away a car and left its driver missing. The National Weather Service says a tornado packing winds of up...
TWIA Financials Improved as Hurricane Season Starts
Jun 16 2014 // Low catastrophe activity and claims experience so far this year have helped to put Texas’ insurer of last resort for properties along the Gulf Coast in a better position to face the 2014 hurricane season than it has...
Texas Insurance Regulators Remind Roofers, Adjusters: You Can’t Do Both
Jun 16 2014 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has issued a bulletin to insurance companies, insurance adjusters and roofers, reminding them that a roofing contractor who is also an insurance adjuster cannot perform both duties...
IIAT Names Young Agent of the Year, Young Associate of the Year
Jun 13 2014 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) named James Russell of Texas Associates Insurors/NewFirst Insurors in El Campo as the André P. Juneau Young Agent of the Year. In addition, the association honored Jason...
Abilene, Texas, Hammered by Hailstorm
Jun 13 2014 // Up to a dozen people were treated for injuries last night in Abilene, Texas, after a large hailstorm struck the city during a children’s parade and art walk, the Insurance Council of Texas reported. The Taylor County...
On the Road: Are America’s Guardrails Dangerous?
Jun 13 2014 // Before dawn on Feb. 23, Darius Williams ran his Nissan Sentra off a North Carolina interstate at 80 miles per hour. A length of guardrail pierced his door, according to the police report, driving the 24-year-old’s...
Hits to TrustedChoice.com Growing, Big ‘I’ Chair-Elect Tells Texas Agents
Jun 12 2014 // Insurance consumer interest in Trusted Choice, the national brand created for the members of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or Big “I”), is growing, according the...
TWFG Adds 10 Branch Agencies in Texas
Jun 12 2014 // The Woodlands Financial Group (TWFG) has added 10 more branch agencies in its home state of Texas. TWFG now operates with more than 200 branch offices in Texas along with its headquarters in The Woodlands, just north of...
Eroding Cliff Leaves Luxury Home Teetering 75 Feet Over Texas Lake
Jun 12 2014 // A luxury house has been left teetering about 75 feet above a Central Texas lake since the cliff the home is built on began collapsing. WFAA-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth reported that the house has been condemned and the owners...
