Latest Washington Headlines
All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Board Faults Utility’s Equipment in Fatal 2016 Explosion in Maryland
Apr 25 2019 // A gas company’s faulty equipment is the most likely cause of an explosion at a suburban Maryland apartment complex that killed seven people in 2016, according to federal report issued Tuesday. The explosion and fire...
Brown & Brown Acquires Assets of ALMEA Insurance in Washington
Apr 22 2019 // Brown & Brown of Oregon LLC has acquired substantially all of the assets of ALMEA Insurance’s Vancouver, Wash. location. Following the deal, the ALMEA Insurance team will continue doing business from its existing...
Washington Commissioner Fines Pet Insurer $25K
Apr 16 2019 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued fines in March totaling $158,000 against insurance companies, agents and brokers for violating state insurance regulations, including one fine of $25,000 levied...
Washington Official Wants to Raise Insurance Tax to Help Fight Wildfires
Apr 15 2019 // With an increasing number of forest fires scorching portions of Washington each year, the Legislature is considering a proposal to create a fund dedicated to preventing and battling wildfires. In March, Commissioner of...
Brake Complaints Cause Lyft to Replace 3,000 Electric Bikes in 3 Cities
Apr 15 2019 // Lyft Inc. is removing several thousand electric bikes from service in its bike-share program in New York, Washington and San Francisco because of a braking problem, the ride-hailing company said on Sunday. “We...
Insurers Oppose Premium Tax to Fund Washington’s Wildfire Prevention
Apr 9 2019 // Lobbyists for the property/casualty insurance industry are trying to prevent a $125 million jump in the state of Washington’s insurance premium tax that would fund wildfire prevention and suppression. The tax would...
MIT Researcher Exposing Bias in Facial Recognition Tech Triggers Amazon’s Wrath
Apr 8 2019 // Facial recognition technology was already seeping into everyday life — from photos on Facebook to police scans of mugshots — when Joy Buolamwini noticed a serious glitch: Some of the software couldn’t detect...
Washington Commissioner’s ‘Insurance Fraud Most Wanted’ Suspect Extradited
Apr 8 2019 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s criminal investigations unit has extradited Kreidler’s “insurance fraud most wanted suspect” Jessica Epler from Pennsylvania to face felony charges...
Motel 6 Pays $12 Million to Settle Suit Over Providing Guest Lists to U.S. Immigration
Apr 5 2019 // Motel 6 agreed to pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit in which Washington state’s attorney general said the chain routinely provided guest lists to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Attorney...
Washington Woman Charged with Insurance Fraud
Apr 5 2019 // Elizabeth Delgado, of Pasco, Wash., was charged in Franklin County District Court with one count each of filing a false insurance claim and second-degree attempted theft after an investigation by Insurance Commissioner...
Microsoft Insurer Loses Bid To Recoup $175M from Xbox Chipmaker Hit by Fire
Apr 4 2019 // Microsoft Corp.’s captive insurer has lost its bid to recover $175 million in costs the software maker said it incurred in 2013 to replace memory chips that a manufacturer failed to deliver because of a fire at the...
Some Data Indicates Increasing Accident Rates in Marijuana States
Apr 1 2019 // Preliminary research indicates that the legalization of recreational marijuana in 10 states has increased accident rates, the Insurance Information Institute said. The group cited an October 2018 study by the Highway Loss...
Washington Insurance Commissioner Issued $80K in Fines in February
Mar 26 2019 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler disciplined and issued fines in February totaling $79,400 against insurance companies, agents, brokers and others who violated state insurance regulations. Insurance...
Washington City Planning Big Driver Bike, Pedestrian Safety Changes
Mar 26 2019 // A Washington city is planning changes to make streets safer for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. Bellingham residents can expect to see substantial changes to thoroughfares over the next few months as the city...
Washington Teacher Agrees to $850K to Withdraw Discrimination Suit
Mar 25 2019 // The Sequim School District in Washington has agreed that a former middle school teacher and athletic director will receive $850,000 to withdraw her sexual orientation discrimination lawsuit. The Peninsula Daily News...
Stone Creek Adds Wagner in Washington
Mar 21 2019 // Stone Creek Insurance Agency has hired Jamison Wagner to manage its Spokane, Wash. office. Wagner began his insurance career in 1999 with Safeco Insurance. He was previously with Travelers Insurance as a commercial...
Washington High Court Hears Case on Carbon Pollution
Mar 21 2019 // The Washington Supreme Court heard arguments this week on whether the state Department of Ecology has the authority to cap carbon pollution from major industrial emitters, something business groups and utilities have...
Thinking Past the Obvious: Former CEO of XL Group McGavick Looks Back
Mar 21 2019 // The former chief executive officer of XL Group, Mike McGavick, admits that frequently during his career he has taken on leadership roles that some of his contemporaries considered too hot to handle—such as the...
Washington Blizzard Killed 1,850 Cows, Yakima Farmers Reeling
Mar 20 2019 // The unexpected blizzard that swept through the Yakima Valley on Feb. 9 was just one more clobbering for the region’s dairy farms. The number of dairy farms in the state has plummeted from 2,500 in 1993 to 377 in...
Washington Will be Joining Other States in Suing Major Opioid Shippers
Mar 14 2019 // Washington is the latest state to sue major distributors of opioids, saying the companies made billions of dollars while ignoring signs of a growing crisis fueled by addiction to the drugs. Attorney General Bob Ferguson...
