Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Chemcial Plants with Terrroism Risk ‘Effectively Unregulated,’ Says Senate Report
Jul 31 2014 // The government has failed to inspect virtually all of the chemical facilities that it considers to be at a higher risk for a terror attack and has underestimated the threat to densely populated cities, congressional...
IICF Names Conway Executive Director of Texas/Southeast Division
Jul 30 2014 // The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) has named Sarah Conway executive director of its Texas/Southeast Division, headquartered in Dallas. Conway will be responsible for leading the IICF’s charitable and...
Arguing With Wife, Texas Man Drives Car Into Home
Jul 30 2014 // Police in North Texas say they’ve arrested a man who became upset with his wife and drove his car into their home, trapping the woman in the rubble. Firefighters in the Dallas suburb of Cedar Hill worked early on...
Worldwide Facilities Adds Burns in Texas
Jul 30 2014 // Wholesale insurance broker and managing general agent, Worldwide Facilities Inc., announced that Rick Burns has joined its Houston, Texas, office as senior vice president and product development officer. Worldwide’s...
Brannan Appointed New Texas Workers’ Comp Commissioner
Jul 29 2014 // Gov. Rick Perry appointed Ryan Brannan of Austin as commissioner of Workers’ Compensation at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), effective Aug. 1, 2014, for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2015. Brannan replaces Rod...
Important Facts about Texas Fertilizer Blast May Be Sealed in Lawsuits
Jul 28 2014 // Valuable health and safety information about the 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, could be hidden from the public forever because a judge has approved confidentiality agreements for more than a dozen...
Fertilizer Makers Place Blame on City in West, Texas, Explosion
Jul 28 2014 // Two fertilizer companies sued following a deadly Texas explosion are claiming the small town deserves blame for failing to properly train volunteer firefighters and first responders, who made up most of the 15 people...
Fees Plus Commissions Allowed for Retail Insurance Agents in Texas
Jul 25 2014 // Retail insurance agents in Texas are allowed to charge certain fees in addition to a commission in relation to selling an insurance policy, but those fees must be disclosed to the customer. “Texas is one of the few...
Texas Jury Awards Municipal Utility $30M in Overcharge Case
Jul 24 2014 // A Central Texas jury has delivered a nearly $30 million verdict against the Lower Colorado River Authority. A Comal County jury returned the verdict in favor of New Braunfels Utilities. The Austin-based river authority...
Texas Homebuilder Workers’ Comp Group Distributing $500K to Members
Jul 23 2014 // Texas Homebuilder Workers’ Compensation Group (THB) announced that 2014 dividend payments to policyholders will total more than $500,000. The program is available only to homebuilders in Texas. Founded in 2004 by...
Texas Man to Pay $42.1K Restitution for Home Repair Fraud in Oklahoma
Jul 22 2014 // After a four-year pursuit, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office says it has secured $42,158 in restitution from a Texas man for Oklahoma victims of home repair fraud. The office said that Randy Leroy Madewell of...
Greater Texas Insurance Managers and Agency Merges with BKCW Insurance
Jul 21 2014 // Independent insurance agency BKCW L.P. of Killeen, Texas, and Greater Texas Insurance Managers and Agency of Austin merged operations effective July 1, 2014. Greater Texas Insurance Managers and Agency will continue to do...
Rebates, Referrals and Rewards in Texas – What’s OK and What’s Not?
Jul 21 2014 // What are the rules governing insurance agents in Texas on rebates, referrals and rewards, and why do they matter? For starters, at a minimum, an agent could lose their license for violating rules regarding such activities....
Texas Hailstorm Damage Estimated at $400M
Jul 21 2014 // Insured losses to vehicles, homes and commercial property from the June 12 hailstorm in Abilene, Texas, are expected to hit $400 million, the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) reported. Leroy Perkins of the Perkins...
Business Moves
Jul 21 2014 // Integro, Daugherty Insurance Services, Lugo & Associates Insurance brokerage and risk management firm Integro has acquired Stockton, Calif.-based Daugherty Insurance Services, a retail broker. Details of the deal were...
As America Overall Ages with Boomers, Energy States See Youth Boom
Jul 21 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 United States as a whole ticked up...
Insurance Council of Texas Honors Gentry with Raymond Mauk Award
Jul 17 2014 // Rick Gentry, former executive director for the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT), was presented the Raymond Mauk Leadership Award at the ICT’s Mid-Year Property and Casualty Symposium in Austin. Gentry led the ICT for...
Denton, Texas, Rejects Partial Fracking Ban
Jul 17 2014 // The council governing a North Texas city that sits atop a large natural gas reserve rejected a bid that would have made it the first city in the state to ban further permitting of hydraulic fracturing in the...
Insurance Network of Texas Changes Name to The Nitsche Group
Jul 16 2014 // Insurance Network of Texas, an independent insurance agency based in Giddings, Texas, is operating under a new name: The Nitsche Group. The company also unveiled a redesigned web site: www.TheNitscheGroup.com. The new site...
Texas Shipyard Faces $305K in OSHA Penalties
Jul 15 2014 // Texas-based Sterling Shipyard LP has been cited for 16 serious, repeat and failure-to-abate violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for continuing to expose workers...
