Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Wind Pool Wants $500 Million in Pre-Event Notes
Jun 20 2013 // On Tuesday, the board of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association agreed to explore additional funding options, after the Legislature was unable to pass any reforms during the recent regular session which ended in...
Texas Tops U.S. in Number of Lost, Stolen Firearms
Jun 20 2013 // Federal authorities say Texas has far and away the largest number of firearms in the U.S. reported as lost or stolen. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued a report this week showing there were...
Combined Agents of America Elects New 2013 Leadership
Jun 19 2013 // Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA), based in Austin, Texas, has elected an new management committee for 2013-14, led by Chairman Bill Kliewer. CAA member agencies are located in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Each CAA...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Group Expects Surplus
Jun 19 2013 // The nonprofit, state-supervised property insurance agency for coastal Texas counties is expected to shore up its finances by the end of the year, the group told a state House panel on June 17. Pete Gise, who handles the...
Rathgeber Appointed Texas Insurance Commissioner as Kitzman Exits
Jun 17 2013 // On the same day that Eleanor Kitzman exited her post as state insurance commissioner, Texas Gov. Rick Perry appointed Julia Rathgeber of Austin to take over leadership at the Texas Department of...
Jenns Named President of Austin, Texas-Based Service Group
Jun 14 2013 // Service Group, based in Austin, Texas, announced it has named Martin Jenns as its new president. The company also announced the retirements of senior vice presidents Patrick Vance and Gary Holliday. Service Group,...
Sawyer Insurance Agency Merges with Higginbotham in Dallas
Jun 14 2013 // Higginbotham announced that Sawyer Insurance Agency has merged with its Dallas office. Sawyer Insurance in Richardson, Texas, has been owned and operated by agent Mike Sawyer since 1975. He and two insurance professionals...
FEMA Denies Texas Aid to Rebuild Town After Fertilizer Blast
Jun 13 2013 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it won’t provide U.S. aid to help rebuild the town in Texas where an April fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 people and leveled nearby buildings. In a June 10 letter to...
New Insurance Commissioner to Address Texas Insurance Symposium
Jun 10 2013 // Julia Rathgeber, newly appointed Commissioner of the Texas Department of Insurance, will speak at the 21st annual Mid-Year Property and Casualty Insurance Symposium. The Symposium will be held in Austin on Thursday, July...
Fracking Companies Silence Water Complaints With Sealed Settlements
Jun 10 2013 // Chris and Stephanie Hallowich were sure drilling for natural gas near their Pennsylvania home was to blame for the headaches, burning eyes and sore throats they suffered after the work began. The companies insisted...
After Blast, Texas Town Fights to Keep its Residents
Jun 7 2013 // John Crowder stood on the gray concrete slab where his house once was in West, Texas, pointing out one spot after another. There was the garage where an overflow of guests would eat their Christmas dinner. There was the...
Texas Law Change Would Allow Reappraisals After Disaster
Jun 6 2013 // Hundreds of property owners whose homes and businesses were damaged by the earth-rattling fertilizer plant explosion that devastated the town of West in April may catch a break on their property taxes under recently...
Allstate Appoints Sedillo as Chief Executive of Texas Operations
Jun 4 2013 // The Allstate Insurance Company has named Larry Sedillo field senior vice president for the company’s Texas region, where he will lead business operations. Being appointed to this top spot in Texas has special meaning...
Amarillo Hailstorm Damage Estimated at $400M
Jun 3 2013 // A massive hailstorm that blanketed the Texas panhandle city of Amarillo on May 28 is proving costly. An estimated 35,000 vehicles and thousands of homes were damaged in the May 28 storm. Insured losses are expected to...
Texas Governor: Storm Insurance Special Session Possibility
Jun 3 2013 // Gov. Rick Perry has said he may add reshaping the troubled Texas Windstorm Insurance Association to a special legislative session he’s already convened on redistricting, but wouldn’t yet say for sure whether...
Top 10 U.S. Insurers in Tornado-Stricken States: SNL Financial
Jun 3 2013 // The Moore, Oklahoma tornado, which killed 24 people, was the deadliest tornado to touch down during a nearly weeklong outbreak across the U.S. Midwest and South Central regions. The states hardest hit have been Kansas,...
Business Moves
Jun 3 2013 // Turner Barker, Clark Insurance Turner Barker Insurance, previously a subsidiary of Gorham Savings Bank, has completed its merger transaction with Clark Insurance. Both agencies are based in Portland, Maine. The deal was...
People – South Central
Jun 3 2013 // Mullis Newby Hurst LP (MNH), based in Addison, Texas, promoted John W. Newby to president and chief operating officer. Newby began his career with MNH in 2002 as executive vice president and partner. He previously served...
Oklahoma, Texas Take Aim at Overuse of Opioids in Workers’ Comp
Jun 3 2013 // In Texas and Oklahoma the battle against opioid abuse among injured workers is ongoing. Oklahoma in 2012 enacted legislation adopting the Work Loss Data Institute’s Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) as the...
Man Dies in Texas Construction Accident
May 31 2013 // Police say a construction worker at a site in College Station, Texas has died after being pinned to the ground by two 1,500-pound, 20-feet-long shoring panels. Police say 49-year-old Armando Gonzalez of Bryan died...
