Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Storage Tank Facility Cited for Safety Hazards, Fined $234.5K
May 20 2020 // Alexander Tank Company – a manufacturer of steel storage tanks based in Luling, Texas – has been cited by federal regulators for repeat safety and health hazards and fined $234,528. The U.S. Occupational Safety and...
Texas Transportation Agency Hacked in 2nd Attack on State Government
May 19 2020 // Texas’ transportation agency has become the second part of the state government to be hit by a ransomware attack in recent days. Someone hacked into the Texas Department of Transportation’s network in a...
Business Moves
May 18 2020 // National Paragon, Trident Public Risk Solutions, Argo Paragon Insurance Holdings, a national managing general agency, said it has closed on the previously-announced purchase of Trident Public Risk Solutions from Argo...
What to Expect in Workers’ Compensation Costs From COVID-19: NCCI
May 18 2020 // If only 10% of health care workers contract COVID-19 and all of their claims are deemed compensable, workers’ compensation loss costs for that sector could double or even triple in some states, according to an...
Lentz Named Senior VP – Underwriting at Texas Mutual Insurance Co.
May 15 2020 // Workers’ compensation provider, Texas Mutual Insurance Co., has appointed Jeff Lentz as the company’s senior vice president (SVP) of underwriting. He most recently was vice president of underwriting at the...
Texas Appellate Courts Won’t Pay Ransom After Cyber Attack
May 15 2020 // Texas courts have been hit with a ransomware attack that took down the website and case management systems for the state’s appellate and high courts. The attack on the courts’ network was discovered by staff on...
Texas Surplus Lines Premium in April Rises to $741.68M
May 14 2020 // Texas surplus lines premium during the month of April 2020 reached $741.68 million, according to the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX). This is a 14.8% increase over the same period in 2019, SLTX...
Officials: Why Was Man Killed by Jet on Texas Runway There?
May 14 2020 // Investigators are trying to determine how a man with apparently no security clearance ended up on a runway at a Texas airport where he was struck and killed by a landing commercial jet. Junin Ko, 22, died on May 7 after a...
Texas to Test Everyone in Nursing Homes as COVID-19 Deaths Rise
May 13 2020 // Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered coronavirus testing for all Texas nursing home residents and staff after the White House urged the nation’s governors to do so as deaths mount nationwide. The directive by Abbott, a...
Texas: Sponsors Have Responsibilities for Temporary Agent, Adjuster Licenses
May 12 2020 // The Texas Department of Insurance in Commissioner’s Bulletin No. B-0026-20 reminds insurers, agents, agencies, and adjusters of their responsibilities for temporary agent and emergency adjuster applicants and...
Texas’ Paramount GA Launches Online Platform for Transportation Risks
May 12 2020 // Tyler, Texas-based Paramount General Agency, a licensed program administrator with a focus on the long-haul trucking industry, has launched an online platform offering a multi-line suite of insurance products for its...
REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT on Police Immunity: For Cops Who Kill, Special Supreme Court Protection
May 12 2020 // MADILL, Oklahoma — Sick with pneumonia, agitated and confused, Johnny Leija refused to return to his hospital room. Moments later, with three police officers pinning him on the floor, Leija was dead at age 34. Staff at...
Texas Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule Prohibiting Named Driver Policies
May 8 2020 // The Texas Department of Insurance is accepting comments on a newly posted rule proposal that repeals and amends requirements for the delivery or renewal of named driver automobile policies. This rule implements HB 259,...
Houston Confronts One-Two Punch of Coronavirus and Oil Bust
May 8 2020 // When you’re known as the energy capital of the world, oil busts are nothing new. But Houston now finds itself in uncharted territory — grappling with an oil downturn in the middle of a pandemic. Like in other...
Texas Seeks Applications for State Insurance Boards, Committees
May 7 2020 // The Texas Department of Insurance reports multiple opportunities for participation on insurance-related boards and committees. TDI is now accepting applications for the following boards and committees: Fair Access to...
Texas Regulatory Commission Says it Won’t Cut Oil Production
May 6 2020 // After overseeing the state’s energy sector through one of Texas’ largest oil booms in recent years, the Texas Railroad Commission has suddenly found itself in the middle of two global crises that have delivered...
At Least 116 Oklahoma Meat Plant Workers, 240 in Texas Test Positive for Virus
May 6 2020 // At least 116 employees at an Oklahoma pork processing plant have tested positive for coronavirus, Seaboard Foods spokesman David Eahart said in a statement on May 4. Meanwhile, a surge of coronavirus cases in the Texas...
What to Expect in Workers’ Compensation Costs From COVID-19: NCCI
May 6 2020 // If only 10 percent of health care workers contract COVID-19 and all of their claims are deemed compensable, workers’ compensation loss costs for that sector could double or even triple in some states, according to an...
Texas’ Goosehead Insurance Reports $156K Loss for Q1 2020
May 5 2020 // Publicly traded independent personal lines insurance agency, Goosehead Insurance Inc., headquartered in Westlake, Texas, has reported a loss of $156,000 for the first quarter of 2020, with revenues of $20.4 million. The...
Texas Creamery Blue Bell to Plead Guilty, Pay $19M over Listeria Outbreak
May 4 2020 // Texas-based ice cream manufacturer Blue Bell Creameries has agreed to pay $19.35 million and plead guilty to charges that it shipped contaminated products linked to a 2015 listeriosis outbreak, the U.S. Justice Department...
