Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
People – South Central
Oct 16 2017 // Dr. Shealynn Buck has joined Lockton Benefit Group in Dallas as chief medical officer. She joins the Lockton Health Risk Solutions team and will advise employers on health strategies that improve employee wellbeing, reduce...
Fitch Ratings: Texas Flood Plan Would Lower Risk to Houston Region Utilities
Oct 13 2017 // The development of a state-wide flood plan by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) would reduce operational risk to both water and sewer utilities, according to Fitch Ratings. If developed, the plan would be the first...
Feds Shut Down Iowa Trucking Company Tied to Trafficking Deaths
Oct 13 2017 // Federal safety regulators have shut down a troubled Iowa trucking company that owned the semitrailer involved in a human trafficking case in which 10 immigrants died in Texas. Pyle Transportation was placed under an...
Developers Built Homes Inside Houston’s Reservoirs. But No One Warned Buyers.
Oct 12 2017 // Note: This story was originally published by the Texas Tribune and ProPublica. When Jeremy Boutor moved to a master-planned community in Houston’s booming energy corridor, he saw it as idyllic. Lakes on Eldridge...
Texas’ QEO Group to Write Commercial Auto with Clear Blue Insurance Group
Oct 12 2017 // Irving, Texas-based QEO Group LLC (QEO) and Clear Blue Financial Holdings LLC (Clear Blue), headquartered in North Carolina, have agreed to a long-term, exclusive relationship for QEO to write its commercial automobile...
$36.5 Billion House Disaster Aid Bill Includes Funds for Puerto Rico, Wildfires, Flood Insurance
Oct 12 2017 // House lawmakers unveiled a bill Tuesday night that would provide $36.5 billion in emergency funding for hurricane and wildfire relief requested by the Trump administration. With Congress under pressure to provide urgent...
Texas Pumpkin Crops Suffer from Heavy Rains
Oct 11 2017 // It’s the peak time of year to harvest pumpkins, but the weather hasn’t been so kind to one of Floyd County, Texas’s most famous crops. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports Lindsey Pyle, with Pumpkin Pyle...
Deadline Extended for Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Post-Harvey Claim Disputes
Oct 10 2017 // As of Oct. 4, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) had received 68,861 claims related to Hurricane Harvey. TWIA is the insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast. Affected policyholders,...
Texas Insurance Trade Group Adds 3 More Cities to Smoke Alarm Program
Oct 10 2017 // The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) has distributed 2,000 smoke alarms to fire departments in 20 Texas cities this fall during its annual We’re Out to Alarm Texas smoke alarm campaign. This life saving campaign is...
Texas Insurance Broker RHSB Restructures Senior Leadership
Oct 9 2017 // Dallas-based independent insurance brokerage RHSB has named Julia Miller Spracklen J.D. as chief operating officer and Courtney Woodruff as senior vice president in its Commercial Lines Division. Additionally, John Losurdo...
Texas Congressional Delegation Seeks Additional $19B in Federal Harvey Aid
Oct 9 2017 // The Texas congressional delegation has requested $19 billion to help the Lone Star State recover from Harvey, with both Republicans and Democrats teaming up behind a request to repair water projects and help homeowners and...
Citrus Crop Thefts a Growing Problem in South Texas
Oct 6 2017 // When it comes to commodity theft, Texas probably is best-known for cattle rustling. The Valley Morning Star reports now the state — or at least the Rio Grande Valley — is earning a reputation for citrus thievery,...
Head of Texas’ Harvey Recovery Effort Says Agents Need to ‘Step Up’ on Damage Claims
Oct 6 2017 // The insurance industry in Texas is not happy with the state’s so-called Hurricane Harvey recovery czar. Texas A&M University Chancellor John Sharp, who was named by Gov. Greg Abbott to lead the Commission to...
Hurricane Cars Declared ‘Total Losses’ by Adjusters Are Now Back on Roads
Oct 5 2017 // The ink on the “total loss” insurance paperwork, like the 2007 Range Rover itself, was still wet when Morgan Moran began trying to buy his vehicle back after Hurricane Matthew last year. The insurance adjuster...
Hurricane Claim Insurance Checks Drive New Car Sales
Oct 2 2017 // As Hurricane Harvey poured on Houston, Frank Rodriguez feared for his 2014 GMC Sierra. Once he saw the pickup’s soaking-wet interior and center console full of water, he knew it was a lost cause. He just hoped his...
Court Overturns $663 Million Fraud Judgment Against Guardrail Maker Trinity
Oct 2 2017 // Trinity Industries Inc. won’t have to pay a $663 million judgment that was awarded in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the company defrauded the U.S. government with a faulty highway guardrail safety system. A...
States Should Implement Stronger Safeguards for Consumers in Natural Disasters: Rutgers Report
Oct 2 2017 // As homeowners file insurance claims in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, many could find their level of protection depends on the state where their damaged home is located, according to a research report released by...
Why Restaurants Are Underinsured
Oct 2 2017 // Restaurants are probably one of the most underinsured classes of business in the industry. Competition, inadequate pricing, and owners refusing to buy needed coverages are some of the reasons cited by specialty brokers in...
Independent Texas MGAs Join Forces for Targeted Harvey Relief
Oct 2 2017 // A group of independently owned Texas managing general agents (MGAs) have come together to provide targeted, direct, local relief to communities affected by Hurricane Harvey. Texas MGAs for Disaster Relief is working with...
People
Oct 2 2017 // Keleigh Buchanan has been promoted to vice president at Dallas-based independent insurance broker, RHSB. A member of RHSB’s Private Client Group, she has been with RHSB for five years and has 16 years of experience...
