Latest Texas Headlines

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

Authorities: 13 Dead After Truck Crashes in Texas

Jul 24 2012 // A pickup truck overloaded with passengers veered off a highway and crashed into trees in rural South Texas on July 22, killing at least 13 people and leaving 10 injured, authorities said. Gerald Bryant, a spokesman for the...

Ex-School Nurse in Texas Gets 10 Years for Fire

Jul 23 2012 // An ex-school nurse in Central Texas upset about a poor evaluation has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for setting a campus building on fire. Mary Lucille Gutierrez pleaded guilty to criminal mischief of more than...

Declarations – South Central

Jul 23 2012 // Agent Advocates “I am committed to insurance products and services being offered by licensed agents and brokers, not unlicensed navigators. Licensed agents and brokers are the front-line advocates for consumer...

People – South Central

Jul 23 2012 // Don Whitaker, president and owner of Whitaker Insurance Associates Inc. in San Antonio, has been named president-elect of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) for 2012-201. The association elected Pat Arthur,...

Business Moves – South Central

Jul 23 2012 // Agents Alliance Services James King, CEO of Agents Alliance Services Ltd in Denton, Texas, announced that nine new agencies have joined the group during the first half of 2012. They are: Arcadia Insurance Agency LLC of...

Texas Supreme Court: Bad Faith Tort Inconsistent with Workers’ Comp System

Jul 23 2012 // In what has been called a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Texas has found that a bad faith cause of action is inconsistent with the current workers’ compensation system. The Court’s decision strengthens...

Police: Naked Man Crashes Through Texas Mall

Jul 19 2012 // Police say a naked man crashed a pickup truck into a Dallas mall, then drove over a few kiosks before stopping to try on clothes. Dallas police were called to the Southwest Center Mall around 7:30 a.m. on July 13. Officers...

Arkansas Rice Farmers Sue Texas Company Over Hybrid Rice

Jul 18 2012 // A group of Arkansas rice farmers has sued a company that produces hybrid seed, claiming that RiceTec Inc. supplied them with seed that produced an inferior crop and sometimes didn’t grow well enough to be...

Long Term Care Liability Loss Rate Expected to Grow: Aon

Jul 18 2012 // Long term care liability loss rates and claim severity have reached an eight-year high and are expected to grow steadily in 2013 against a backdrop of health care provider budget constraints and uncertainty about health...

Bexar County Leads Texas in Road Rage Crashes

Jul 17 2012 // Bexar County in Central Texas has had the most reports of road rage crashes in the state over the last few years, according to a newspaper analysis. From 2007 to 2011, police officers and sheriff’s deputies in Bexar...

Chartis Enhances, Expands Private Client Group’s Wildfire Protection Unit

Jul 16 2012 // Chartis has enhanced its Private Client Group division’s Wildfire Protection Unit, including geographic expansion and improved monitoring technologies. The Unit now is available to clients in the Texas cities of...

Houston-Area Rain Floods Homes, May End Drought

Jul 16 2012 // Historic rainfall levels that drenched the Houston area last week flooded dozens of homes and caused widespread street flooding, but the rain also is likely to result in the end of drought conditions in Southeast Texas,...

Bondurant Rejoins Independent Insurance Agents of Texas

Jul 16 2012 // After a hiatus of nearly two years, Rick Bondurant has rejoined the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) staff as director of management resources. In this role, Bondurant is responsible for developing,...

Thompson Honored with Insurance Council of Texas’ Raymond Mauk Award

Jul 13 2012 // Jay Thompson, a partner with the law firm of Thompson, Coe, Cousins and Irons, has been named the Raymond Mauk Leadership Award honoree by the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT). The award was presented on July 12 at the...

Texas Judge Rules Atmosphere, Air Is Public Trust

Jul 13 2012 // A Texas judge has ruled that the atmosphere and air must be protected for public use, just like water, which could help attorneys tasked with arguing climate change lawsuits designed to force states to cut emissions. The...

Texas Home Insurance Premiums Up Since 2009

Jul 12 2012 // A report from the Texas Department of Insurance says that homeowners insurance premiums in Texas have gone up 21 percent since 2009. The report that state Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman presented to a Senate...

BP Pays $13M to Settle Texas Refinery Safety Probe

Jul 12 2012 // BP Plc on Thursday agreed to pay $13 million to settle safety violations at its Texas City, Texas refinery, paving the way for a sale of the refinery by the London-based energy company. The settlement struck with the U.S....

Some South Central Agencies See Potential in Dynamic Health, Benefits Market

Jul 11 2012 // The South Central region of the country, particularly Texas, has been a hotbed of activity when it comes to mergers and acquisitions of smaller health and benefit agencies. The reason, according to agencies in the region,...

Esurance Offering Discount to Texas Drivers for Facebook ‘Like’

Jul 10 2012 // Esurance announced it is now offering drivers in Texas a 10 percent discount on their car insurance for “liking” Esurance on Facebook. The company said “Like to Save” discount is a natural extension...

Policy Counts for States’ Property Insurers of Last Resort Grew 17% in 2011: III

Jul 10 2012 // A record-high 3.31 million residential and commercial policies were offered through state-run property insurers of last resort in the United States in 2011, a 17 percent increase over the previous record of 2.84 million in...