Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
A Year After Texas Wildfires, Recovery Continues
Sep 4 2012 // One year after wildfires raced through Bastrop and impacted 64 other Texas counties, recovery continues with more than $63 million in disaster assistance provided to date, state and federal emergency management officials...
Brownsville Named Safest Driving City in Texas
Aug 30 2012 // Brownsville once again tops the list as the safest driving city in Texas, according to the eighth annual “Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report” released by Allstate Insurance Company. The report, based...
Galveston Man Gets Prison for Hacking Texas DPS
Aug 28 2012 // A hacker who targeted Texas Department of Public Safety computers has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison. Prosecutors say 31-year-old Higinio O. Ochoa III of Galveston must also pay more than $14,000...
10 U.S. Cities with Safest Drivers
Aug 28 2012 // This year’s top honor of “America’s Safest Driving City” is Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where the average driver will experience an auto collision every 13.8 years, which is 27.6 percent less likely...
Texas Judge Restrains Waco-Based Life Settlements Firm
Aug 24 2012 // A Texas judge has ordered a Waco-based life settlements firm to preserve records and assets after state officials alleged the firm is in “dire financial straits.” Life Partners has been a past target of federal...
SIAA Signs 4 New Members in Oklahoma, Texas
Aug 24 2012 // The Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA) announced 40 new member agencies in July. Of those, four new members are from South Central states. Twenty-nine of the 40 are agencies new to the independent agency system,...
A Year Later: Bastrop, Texas Fire Victims Thankful for Assistance
Aug 23 2012 // The home of John and Lisa Whitt was reduced to ashes in the Bastrop Labor Day fire in Texas last year, but today, they feel like they have received more than they lost. The Whitts had 15 minutes to get everything they...
Rules Protecting Against Hospital ‘Balance Billing’ Suspended in Texas
Aug 23 2012 // In a move that’s angered consumer advocates and doctor groups, Texas’ top insurance regulator has canceled new rules designed to help consumers avoid getting big bills for out-of-network care. The rules were...
The Republic Group Announces Officer Appointments
Aug 22 2012 // The Republic Group, headquartered in Dallas, has made several executive appointments. Ron Lawson has been appointed vice president, Marketing. Lawson joined Republic in 2004 as director, Marketing and Product Development,...
Texas Wind Pool: $800M Available for Claims Should Storm Hit Coast
Aug 21 2012 // Going into the peak time of the year for hurricane development, Texas’ property insurance company of last resort in coastal areas has around $800 million in available cash to immediately handle claims in the event a...
Texas Windstorm Pool: Fax Problems Due to Provider Connectivity
Aug 21 2012 // Agents who place insurance with Texas’ property insurer of last resort in coastal areas apparently have been having difficulty faxing policy changes to the company. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association says the...
Texas Averaged 250 Traffic Deaths per Month in 2011
Aug 21 2012 // On average, 250 people killed in traffic crashes every month in 2011, Texas officials say. While the number of people killed each year in traffic crashes in Texas has decreased by about 21 percent since 2003, the Texas...
Texas Jury Awards Nearly $1M to West Nile Victim
Aug 20 2012 // A Texas jury has awarded nearly $1 million to a Union Pacific worker who sued the railroad after claiming he was infected with West Nile virus while on the job. A DeWitt County jury on Aug. 16 found Union Pacific partially...
Texas Policyholders Revolting; Forming New Wind Mutual
Aug 20 2012 // Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Insurance Journal’s Satire Issue, August 20, 2012. The content in this issue is not real and is not to be taken seriously. It’s supposed to be humorous....
Recovering from a Wildfire Catastrophe
Aug 17 2012 // Gary Sweeny still gets choked up when thinking of all of his family and friends who helped him recover from the Bastrop, Texas, wildfire that destroyed his home of 35 years. The retired school teacher and his wife who...
Worker Dies In Trench Collapse At Texas Refinery
Aug 16 2012 // Officials say a construction worker has died in a trench collapse at a Southeast Texas refinery. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the accident happened Tuesday afternoon at a construction site at the Total...
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires Texas-Based Sunday and Associates
Aug 16 2012 // Illinois-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced the acquisition of Sunday and Associates Inc. of Sugarland, Texas. . Established in 1982, Sunday and Associates offers employee benefits consulting and insurance...
Bastrop, Texas, Residents Putting the Past Behind After Wildfire
Aug 15 2012 // Gary Bonnette had traveled with his wife Cynthia and son Aaron to San Antonio to visit family members when he got a phone call saying his home was threatened by a huge wildfire. Neighbors say smoke was pouring over the...
S.J. Louis Construction of Texas Cited for Safety Violations
Aug 14 2012 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited S.J. Louis Construction of Texas Ltd. with one serious and one repeat safety violation for exposing workers to trenching and...
Audit: Texas Traffic Fatalities Down Since 2006
Aug 14 2012 // A state audit indicates traffic fatalities in Texas have declined nearly 15 percent since 2006. Texas Department of Transportation officials say increased seatbelt usage and “Click It or Ticket” traffic...
