Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Fire Review Panel Flags Work in 2 Cases
Jun 28 2013 // A Texas fire review panel flagged two quarter-century-old arson cases, saying investigators were mistaken in finding that the defendants set intentional fires. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office convened the panel...
4 Workers Hurt in Texas A&M Construction Accident
Jun 27 2013 // Four workers were hurt, three critically, after a barn frame collapsed on June 22 at an $80 million Texas A&M University equestrian complex that’s under construction. The collapse happened on university property...
Colleges Could Face Lawsuits Following Supreme Court Affirmative Action Ruling
Jun 26 2013 // The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action may force universities to re-examine their admissions policies and face waves of litigation about race- based admission. In a 7-1 ruling yesterday, the justices...
Social Media Is Here to Stay, Texas P/C Professionals Say
Jun 26 2013 // The value of social media as a tool for marketing and selling property/casualty insurance may be a matter of debate but one thing is for certain: While the nature of social media may be evolving, it’s not going...
Some Louisiana Residents Take Buyouts from Salt Dome Owner
Jun 25 2013 // A third of a group of residents evacuated because of an Assumption Parish sinkhole have accepted buyout offers from Texas Brine Co. Company spokesman Sonny Cranch says that as of noon on June 23, 33 of 91 people had taken...
Texas Town Sues Plant Owner Over Fertilizer Blast
Jun 24 2013 // Officials of the small Texas town devastated by an April 17 fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people has filed suit against the plant owner and supplier. The lawsuit filed by West officials on June 21 seeks unspecified...
Relationships, Expertise Drive Success in Texas E&S Marketplace
Jun 21 2013 // During the past 20 to 30 years typical business dealings between wholesale insurance brokers and retail agents have evolved from being purely transactional experiences to those that are highly dependent upon relationships...
Bus Company Owner Faces Charges from Fatal 2008 Texas Crash
Jun 21 2013 // The owner of a Houston bus company has been indicted on federal charges stemming from the 2008 Texas crash that killed 17 people on their way to a religious conclave, authorities announced. Angel de la Torre of Houston and...
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...
